Thicker Than Blood
by lostowl
Summary: Set 25 years in the future, the gang gets back together to rescue Tenchi's wife who has been kidnapped. The main characters are Tenchi's daughter and Ryo-oki.
1. Prologue

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 1: Prologue  
Ryeka Masaki's mother gets kidnapped apparently by Jurai military forces   
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 1  
  
"Mommy, Mommy, I found you!!!!"   
  
Nine-year-old Ryeka Masaki shrieked with pleasure as she chased her mother around an enormous tree. Her laughter scattered through the leafy green forest that surrounded the Masaki estate. A light wind that had been holding it's breath, suddenly sprang up and rustled the leaves in the tall trees, as though they too were chuckling along with the ebullient child.   
  
"That's right, you did," said the older woman, the object of the child's pursuit, "but as I learned years ago before I married your father, finding and catching are two very different things."   
  
Mrs. Masaki danced lightly away, so easily that her feet barely seemed to touch the ground as she shifted and spun just out of her daughter's reach. She was a tall, full bosomed woman with straight, aristocratic posture and hair cut short and wavy, parted off center with just a hint of gray starting to show. She presented the appearance of a woman in her early forties, energetic but graceful. Indeed, she showed somewhat supernatural grace as she evaded her daughter's grasp.  
  
"Hey," Ryeka pouted as she grabbed after her mother's billowing robes, always a second late. "No fair! That's cheating!"   
  
"Who says it isn't fair?" Ryeka's mother challenged. "I never said I wouldn't cheat, and I never said you couldn't."  
  
"Just like a parent," Ryeka scowled, thinking to herself, "mixing homework and playtime. Well, two can play at that game. I've been practicing on my own for just such an occasion."   
  
Ryeka concentrated on summoning the powers that she had been born with but had barely begun to control. As the pair chased through the forest, the mysterious Jurai power swelled within Ryeka. Their strides grew into leaps as they dashed over fallen tree trunks, bounded up to high limbs and generally completely ignored commonly accepted theories of gravity. Little by little, Ryeka closed on her mother, which rather than pleasing her, increased her suspicion.   
  
"This is too easy. She's planning something," Ryeka thought, her hand inches from her mothers own teasingly outstretched hand.  
  
Confirming Ryeka's suspicion, Mrs. Masaki winked out of existence just as Ryeka reached her, leaving the young girl to stumble through the space where her mother had just been.   
  
Ryoko Masaki reappeared in front of a wide lake, near a discreet three story house. Smiling at her own sneakiness, she turned to go inside.  
  
And ran right into her daughter's outstretched arms.  
  
"GOTCHA," Ryeka howled with glee, "I guessed right and finally got you!"  
  
It took a moment for Ryoko to catch up with what had happened. At first she could only stand there dumbfounded as her daughter proudly hugged her.  
  
"Y-y-you teleported!!!!!" Ryoko gasped.  
  
"Uh-huh!" Ryeka beamed. "Grandma Washu taught me how last month! I told her how you always teleported away just as I was about to catch you. She said, knowing you, you were probably sneaking off to watch TV while I ran around the mountains looking for you."  
  
Ryeka stepped back and frowned at her mother.  
  
"That, by the way, is very not nice."  
  
Ryoko crossed her arms and tried to maintain her composure. She even tried to frown a little, but her lips refused to cooperate. She was just too proud.  
  
"Rye-ayka," Ryoko pronounced her daughters name sternly syllable by syllable, "How could you take your Grandma Washu's word over mine? After all, I am your mother."  
  
"Well, let's see," Ryeka feigned pensiveness. "I caught you didn't I?"   
  
Ryoko nodded, giving in and smiling. "Yes, you sure did."  
  
Ryeka twirled around happily, "Yea! Now it's my turn! I'll hide and you come find me!"  
  
Ryeka winked out of existence in the middle of one of her spins.   
  
"Catch me!" Her voiced whispered in Ryoko's mind.  
  
Ryoko counted to ten to give her daughter's taunt time to fade from her mind. After all, fair was fair, and using telepathy to locate Ryeka was strictly against the rules. After ten seconds, Ryoko dematerialized to go look for her daughter. She teleported to Funaho, the Jurai tree that had taken root nearly eight hundred years ago when Ryoko had destroyed its spaceship while battling the Juraian warrior Yosho.  
  
Ryoko reached out and touched the tree. She could feel the warmth of the strong life force within. These special Jurai trees formed a network of energy that spread out across the Universe to wherever they went aboard the massive tree-ships of the Jurai Empire. She could also faintly feel the spirit of Lord Yosho, who had joined with the tree when he had passed from the world a decade earlier. Melancholy passed over Ryoko, obscuring her happiness as a cloud passes over the sun. Even though he had been half Juraian, Yosho had chosen a life that had caused him to age, albeit slowly. His close proximity to Funaho had sustained him for nearly eight hundred years on Earth, but even the mightiest of the Juraian samurai could not live forever.   
  
Ryoko's melancholy passed swiftly to pangs of remorse. It was she that had driven Funaho to the Earth and destroyed its interstellar capabilities. In defense of the planet, Yosho had called upon great, but terrible powers to defeat Ryoko. Centuries later, a very changed Ryoko had stood repentantly before Tsunami, the First Tree of Jurai. She gained forgiveness for her crimes, but also a terrible burden. It was revealed that Earth was beyond the reach of the Jurai energy that sustained the great trees. By driving Yosho and Funaho to the Earth, Ryoko had condemned them both to a long slow death as, little by little, the Jurai power was expended from the great tree.  
  
And so, Yosho had aged and died, as had his daughter. His grandson, Tenchi, lived as mere mortal, not gaining any of the life extending powers of the Jurai tree at all. And so, Ryoko's own aged appearance was a facade she put on, to keep pace with her beloved Tenchi's natural aging. In fact, she was as youthful as she had been for the last few thousand years.  
  
"Just one more way I'll never be human," She thought bitterly.  
  
But, at least Ryeka was normal, Ryoko smiled and teleported away to look for her.   
  
Ryeka wasn't at the Masaki Shrine. Nor was she at the Demon Cave (no demon's there anymore, thank heavens), and not at home either. Ryoko began to suspect that her daughter was moving from one hiding place to another, to throw off the scent. Ryoko teleported to the hillside, a special place where she and Tenchi had spent many a tender moment in their, or his, youth. If fact, it was likely the place where they had conceived Ryeka. Ryoko blushed, remembering. Of course, they couldn't be sure. Once Tenchi had finally opened up and they had become an "item", there had been many such places.   
  
Lost in thought, Ryoko barely noticed a presence around her. When she did, she thought it might be Ryeka sneaking up on her. She whirled around and shouted "Boo!!!"  
  
The shock caused several of the soldiers to soil their uniforms. They froze, weapons still trained on Ryoko, petrified. Ryoko was just as surprised to see them.   
  
"Uh, hey," she said innocently. "Can I help you?"  
  
Their officer came to his senses first.   
  
"Fire!" he shouted.  
  
The soldiers fired their weapons. Ryoko's mind twisted in panic. She thought frantically for her daughter. Was she safe? Had the soldiers gotten her? In her fear for Ryeka, she completely failed to defend herself. The soldiers' weapons fired a strange sort of plasma that coated her and burned her with a blinding pain!  
  
Well, perhaps not a blinding pain. In fact, there wasn't any pain at all, just a sticky sort of wet feeling. Ryoko smirked and charged up a small, insulting fireball, but just then she found the plasma had crystallized, sealing her in a clear glassy shell. Angrily she summoned her power, balls of energy that gathered in her hands and blasted outwards against the shell.  
  
Instead of shattering, the crystal seemed only to grow denser, more solid. The soldiers, who had almost been cowering, seemed to take stock in this reaction.  
  
"It worked," the officer snapped into his comlink. "Take this demon aboard!"  
  
Soldiers rushed forward and attached some kind of anti gravity clamps to Ryoko's immobilized body. Angrily, she blasted again and again against the crystal shell. Each time, however, the shell grew denser and more solid, almost as if it were using Ryoko's power to strengthen itself. Growing weaker with each expenditure of energy, Ryoko began to feel light-headed. As she passed out, she suddenly had a thought.  
  
"Those looked like Jurai military uniforms..."  
  
  
  
It was getting darker, and Ryeka was getting bored. It had never taken her mother this long to find her before. True, she had really tried hard this time, teleporting again and again from place to place, each time discretely reaching out telepathically in advance to be sure that her mother wasn't there. She used her telepathic link to her mother cautiously, for it was nearly impossible for either of them to use it without alerting the other. And of course, using telepath was cheating. Sometimes, though, when one was preoccupied, the other could discreetly eavesdrop without detection. Several times while hiding from her mother, Ryeka had detected that Ryoko was deep in thought. That was probably why she hadn't found her.  
  
"Still," Ryeka thought crossly. "She shouldn't forget the object of the game."  
  
Ryeka decided to give up. She reached out, making no effort to disguise her telepathy, to find her mother. There was nothing. Ryeka was stunned, and she felt the cold adrenaline rush of fear as she reached out into the alien void that had formerly always contained the familiar presence of her mother's mind. She had never failed to find her mother before. Panicking, she reached out with all her power, and again found nothing.  
  
"Mommy?" Ryeka called out. Her growing fear and panic made it hard to concentrate on using her power. As she often did when she was scared, she forgot that she could control powerful cosmic forces almost to the point of bending reality. Instead, she became more and more a terrified, very human girl.  
  
"Mommy?" she cried out again. "Mommy!"  
  
Ryeka stumbled through the woods, crying out into the falling night. She ran from place to place, from the lake to the shrine, to the cave and back home. Ryoko was nowhere to be found. Ryeka collapsed on the long run of stone steps that her mother and father had carried her up so many times.  
  
"Mommy," she cried, huddling up, tearstained cheeks pressed against her knees.  
  
She heard long, slow footsteps far down the steps. She looked up. A shadowy figure was wearily making its way up the steps.  
  
"Daddy!!!" Ryeka dashed down into Tenchi Masaki's arms. 


	2. The Game is Afoot

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 2: The Game is Afoot  
Ryo-ohki reports the successful abduction of Ryoko to the Empress  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 2  
  
Ryo-ohki silently padded along the dim corridors of the Jurai Royal Palace. Lithe and lethal, her dark brown fur blended in with the shadows. Loose black scarves wrapped around her chest and waist, creating the illusion of clothing so as not to offend the prudish Juraian attendees who infected Empress's court. In point of fact, the scarves weren't clothes at all, but an extension of Ryo-ohki's own polymorphic body. Able to transform at will, Ryo-ohki could become a deadly spaceship, or a harmless cabbit, or the beautiful, slender being that she presently exhibited. In fact, Ryo-ohki had discovered that, with practice, she could morph into just about anything. But it took time to learn to "be" things. Having been originally designed (and programmed, she thought sullenly) to be a warship, it had taken her decades to learn to be a "person".  
  
She was on her way now to see the person who had helped her and guided her along that difficult path. The Empress had taken Ryo-ohki in when they both felt abandoned by everyone else, and now that Ryo-ohki was a fully sentient, independent being, she willingly served as a 'special' assistant to the Empress, devoting her life and power to Her Highness's well being.  
  
Outside the Empress's private chambers, the Empress's bodyguards snapped to attention and saluted Ryo-ohki. Although many Juraians clung spitefully to the memories of an earlier Ryo-ohki's devastating attacks on the planet and treated her with fear and suspicion, these two ancient warriors knew better. They had fought side by side with Ryo-ohki in battle and in politics on the Empress's behalf.  
  
"Good evening, Lady Ryo-ohki," Asaka greeted her, "It is very late for you to be working."  
  
"Good evening to you, Sir Asaka, Sir Kamadake," Ryo-ohki purred back to them. These two were nearly as timeless as the Jurai power itself, sworn to defend the crown whenever called upon. Three times since being resurrected twenty-five years ago, they had been called into action. In the interim periods of quiet, they had graciously trained Ryo-ohki on humanoid style fighting techniques. These had proven useful from time to time when it wasn't politically convenient to transform into a giant spaceship and blast the Empress's detractors.  
  
"I have an important message for Her Highness." Ryo-ohki smiled as she phased through the locked doors instead of opening them. "Bye-yee."  
  
The two samurai silently thought to themselves the same thought. They were glad Ryo-ohki served the Empress, instead of opposing her. It would not be possible to protect against such a versatile and powerful assassin.  
  
The Royal bedchambers were pitch black, but Ryo-ohki's eyes could see in wavelengths that few sensors could detect. A fountain of water trickled off to the side, and the ceiling was a high transparent dome that showed off the brilliant starry night sky. Ryo-ohki slid silently over to the canopied bed and crawled up onto it. Lying down next to the Empress, Ryo-ohki stared at her sleeping face. Though young by Juraian standards, twenty years of ruling the fractious nation had taken their toll. A single wrinkle had started to form on either side of her eyes, and her long silky hair hid a gray strand or two. But no amount of hardship had dulled her beauty or her wits. Ryo-ohki reached out and gently caressed the Empress's cheek with the soft fur on the back of her hand. She could sense that the Empress knew she was there and was coming out of her slumber.  
  
"Ayeka," Ryo-ohki whispered.  
  
Empress Ayeka's eyes fluttered and opened. Her own eyes couldn't visually make out the details of her close friend and confidant, but she had been awakened in this fashion often enough to know who was there. And she was that certain whatever the urgent matter that required her personal attention, Ryo-ohki was probably already planning how to deal with it. Ayeka yawned and flexed just a little, drawing the warm bedclothes around her.  
  
"It must be early," she mumbled sleepily, "what on Earth could be the matter."  
  
"It's funny that you should use that particular provincial phrase," Ryo-ohki replied, sitting up cross-legged on the bed. She had pre-programmed the lights to come up slowly and they were already dimly starting to show. "Ambassador Masaki is on the line. He wanted to be the one to tell you first, but I suspect that something has happened to Ryoko there. Something unpleasant."  
  
Ayeka was long over the grudges that would have required her to say something like 'Anything that involves THAT woman MUST be unpleasant.' Still, she smiled faintly as she entertained the thought. The best thing about her childhood rivalry with Ryoko was that she never had any doubt where she stood with the demon. It wasn't at all like the daily political battles that Ayeka now fought.  
  
Sitting up, the Empress dropped her legs over the side of the bed and slid her feet into waiting slippers. Ryo-ohki was already waiting with a robe. The two unlocked the doors and moved out past Asaka and Kamadake. Kamadake joined in to follow the Empress while Asaka remained to guard the empty bedchamber. Down the hall a short distance was the Empress's private communications room. Ayeka purposely didn't keep any comlinks in her bedchambers. She would never get any sleep that way. Indeed, her console showed several hundred messages waiting for attention. Ignoring these, she activated the "communication waiting" indicator, and looked up to the materializing face of the ambassador.  
  
It was a shame, she reflected, that Juraians choose not to age. If Tenchi had been boyishly attractive in his youth, he was astoundingly handsome in middle age. His black hair was neatly cropped short in the style of an Earthling businessman. Silver bands drew back from the sides, above his ears. His face had lengthened, his strong cheekbones more prominent now, and a neatly trimmed moustache rode his lip. Kindly laugh wrinkles danced at the corners of his eyes, though he wasn't laughing now. How much he looks like Noboyuki, and like dear Yosho, Ayeka thought.  
  
"Ambassador," Ayeka said, regally. "I am always at your service."  
  
"Empress," Tenchi replied, deep worry showing plainly in his eyes, "I beg your pardon for disturbing you at this late hour. However, something terrible has happened here. I believe Ryoko has disappeared."  
  
Ayeka scratched her ear thoughtfully before replying. She had learned that pausing slightly before replying assured others that their words were being carefully considered.  
  
"Given that we are discussing Ryoko," she replied finally, with a straight face, "I am afraid you'll have to be more specific, Tenchi. I have always considered 'disappearing' to be one of her more endearing traits."  
  
"Oh, Ayeka," he sighed. Tears welled up in his eyes, but in relief.  
  
The tension seemed to vanish from Tenchi all at once. Ayeka's little jest had broken his debilitating mental cycle of worry and panic. At once, Tenchi felt less alone.  
  
"There, there, Lord Tenchi," Ayeka soothed him. It scared her to see him so affected, but years of being a monarch had taught her when it was important to put up a brave face. "Tell me all about it."  
  
Tenchi relayed the story how his daughter had run to him crying hysterically after being unable to find Ryoko either physically or telepathically. They had searched the woods again until late into the night. The next day, the terrestrial law enforcement was called in and they searched as well, but to no avail.  
  
"Earth space tracking showed no unusual traffic in the area. The Juraian detachment to the planet reported nothing out of the ordinary during their patrols that day. Even Washu's scans found nothing except for our own energy signatures, and the Jurai power that emanates from myself, Ryeka and Funaho. We have no idea where Ryoko is or how she is."  
  
Ayeka listened thoughtfully to the tale. Ryoko, for all her faults, had been an exceptionally good mother to Ryeka, and much as it had once pained Ayeka to admit it, just as good a wife to Tenchi. Her disappearance certainly seemed out of the ordinary to anyone who knew her.  
  
"You have people searching still?" Ayeka asked.  
  
"Of course. The embassy guards are here and are searching the entire estate with a fine toothed comb."  
  
"Good," Ayeka said sternly, "Then there is no need for you to remain awake. Get some sleep, Tenchi, you look terrible. I'll discuss this matter with Ryo-ohki and one of us will contact you in ten or twelve hours."  
  
Tenchi nodded wearily, happy to share his burden with someone else.  
  
"Give my love to Ryeka," Ayeka finished. "And, tell her that we will find Ryoko. Good night."  
  
Ayeka closed the transmission. She sat silently for a moment, digesting the conversation.  
  
"Thank you, Kamadake, that will be all."  
  
After Kamadake left, Ayeka consulted Ryo-ohki.  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"I think even casual consideration will reveal that the Jurai Military is holding back. One of the reasons they patrol the Terran system is to keep tabs on Ryoko. Some elements have never given over to trusting her. For them to report nothing out of the ordinary is strange since the moment she vanished from their sensors, they should have raised an alarm."  
  
"That is certainly true," Ayeka agreed. "We must be prepared for that issue when it comes up. In the mean time, I want you to go to Earth to be with Tenchi and see what you can find out. On your way, research all of the space traffic that has passed through the Solar System recently. Find out who was there and where their loyalties lie. And, please try not to antagonize the military. They don't like you any more than they liked Ryoko."  
  
Ryo-ohki nodded.  
  
"I have already processed your first request. Ten spaceships have arrived or left Earth during and since the approximate time of the incident. Of those ten, five are regular shuttles to and from Earth's colonies inside the Solar System. All passengers were easily verifiable, and most were regular travelers with normal histories of traveling to and from Earth. Two ships were passenger liners on regular routes. I checked their passenger and cargo manifests. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but it would be best to get spies aboard the ships to check them out. The other three ships were all Juraian military vessels. One was a supply ship on a regular run. The other two are a heavy cruiser and a battleship on regular assignment to that patrol. It seems a little heavy for the Earth patrol, but not unprecedented.  
  
"As for your second request," Ryo-ohki's lips twisted into a cruel smile, revealing a hint of her sharp fangs, "well, you know I always act with utmost discretion around the military. I'll leave at once."  
  
Ayeka nodded. "See to it."  
  
"Yes, Empress," Ryo-ohki replied.   
  
Ryo-ohki bowed and left. As always, Ayeka felt immediately diminished whenever she wasn't around. Ayeka depended on her so much.   
  
Ayeka tapped her pursed lips with her finger. She had to decide what to do next, and two decades in the limelight had taught her always to proceed with caution. This was a case where a public official's family member had vanished. Despite the close family connection Ayeka had with them, she might have to treat it strictly as an official matter. If she took to much action behind the scenes and it came out later, and it always did come out later, it would appear that she had used undue influence. Ultimately, she decided that the best thing to do would be to report the matter to the Galaxy Police. That way, everything would be above board.   
  
Although a regent normally would have an aide make the report through channels, Ayeka felt her reputation would survive if she did it herself. She placed a call to the head of Galaxy Police.  
  
"High Commissioner Kiyone, please," Ayeka asked in her best royal voice. "This is the Empress of Jurai, and no, I don't want to hold."  
  
The call was routed immediately to the Commissioner's office. Kiyone's face appeared in the console viewer.  
  
"Good morning, Empress, how can the Galaxy Police be of service?" Kiyone's voice was polite, and official. One never could be sure what Ayeka wanted when she called, so it was best to start formal and let the Empress decide to make things casual if she wanted. In this case it turned out to be very official.  
  
"Commissioner, I wish to report the disappearance of the wife of the Jurai Ambassador on Earth."  
  
"Ryoko?" Kiyone was momentarily skeptical, though only for a moment. "Of course we will look into it. Have the local authorities been notified?"  
  
"Yes," Ayeka said in her best 'don't patronize me' voice. "They are already on it. However, despite the diplomatic status of the missing person, Earth is GP jurisdiction. Jurai expects the fine officers of the Galaxy Police to take a firm hand in the investigation."  
  
"As you wish, Empress," Kiyone tried to feel out Ayeka a little, "Will there be ... ah ... should we expect your continued interest, then, your Highness?"  
  
"Yes, Kiyone," Ayeka allowed the tone to ease slightly, "I will be doing everything I can from my end. I just wanted the request firmly on the record."  
  
"Very well," Kiyone allowed a slight smile, "I will take a personal interest in the matter and see to it that top personnel are assigned."  
  
"Excellent. I know I can depend on you," Ayeka lifted her chin. "Jurai out." She closed the connection.  
  
Ayeka then browsed her contact files and punched up the information on the captain of the Jurai battleship currently in Earth orbit. She paused for a minute more, weighing the risk of situation. Calling the captain directly was a breach of chain of command and would ruffle feathers in the Supreme Council. Also, making the call would leave a clear trail back to Ayeka if something went disastrously wrong.   
  
One of the most frustrating things about being a politician was that you had no way of knowing what innocent action would come back and bite you in the rear later on.   
  
"Oh, hell," Ayeka grumbled. "It's a perfectly justifiable situation."  
  
So, she made the call. 


	3. Gathering of the minds, as well as Mihos...

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 3: Gathering of the minds, as well as Mihoshi   
Kiyone gathers a crew and travels to Earth  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 3  
  
Immediately after Empress Ayeka closed the connection, Kiyone paged her secretary.  
  
"Janice, prepare Yagami for immediate departure, the destination will be Earth. It must be fully stocked and armed. I plan to be gone only for a few days, but you never know. Also, have detective first class Kaji meet me there. Inform him that he will be going on an extended assignment."  
  
"Yes, Ma'am," Janice replied. It had been quite a while since the last time she had been ordered to do this. Kiyone had only been a station chief at the time, but as a result of that incident, Kiyone had been promoted to second in command of the entire Galaxy Police. It had been a very small stepping stone to the position she was in now.  
  
"Shall I cancel your schedule for the next few days?"  
  
"No," Kiyone replied, gathering a pre-packed travel case she kept in her closet. "Convert face to face appointments to conference calls and shuffle off the small stuff to the Deputy Commissioner for now. I am too old to rush around the Universe these days, so I don't plan to be gone too long."  
  
Kiyone signed off and Janice snorted. To old, hah! Commissioner Kiyone was the best looking fifty-year-old she had ever seen. Her hair had not a trace of gray and her face was as smooth as a twenty year old. Only the barely visible wrinkles around her eyes, and the rough calluses on her hands revealed to Janice any evidence of Kiyone's true age. Without questioning the reasons, she went about making the required preparations.  
  
  
  
Kiyone arrived at the docking bay twenty minutes later. She briskly nodded to the guards who had snapped to attention as she entered. Yagami's power systems were already warmed up and his lights sparkled in the dim hanger. When the Galaxy Police were retiring the older patrol ships, Kiyone worked out a deal resulting in Yagami being transferred into her name. Ten years of special birthday visits from Washu had restored Yagami to a condition not even newer patrol ships could match.  
  
"Yagami," she called out as she crossed the hanger, "lay in a course for Earth, by way of planet New Kyoto. Depart on autopilot as soon as Detective First Class Kaji arrives."  
  
"Course laid in. Detective First Class Kaji is already aboard."  
  
Kiyone strode up the gangplank, closing it on her way up. "Very good. Launch now."  
  
Yagami was already speeding into deep space when Kiyone arrived in the cockpit. Kaji was seated in the pilot's seat, perusing the computer database. He made to rise as Kiyone entered, but she brusquely waved him back.  
  
"Go ahead, take the pilot position. I'll be occupied with regular bureaucratic nonsense for much of this trip, anyway. You know what this mission is about?"  
  
Kaji nodded as he settled back into the pilot's chair.  
  
"I checked the intelligence database of late breaking events. The wife of the Jurai ambassador to Earth is missing."  
  
Kiyone nodded, pleased that he was already working on the case. He had only been out of the academy two years, but he had demonstrated an astounding ability for crime solving and attention to detail. Kiyone had picked him as one who would go very far in the Galaxy Police.  
  
"And are you aware of my special connection to this case?"  
  
Again, Kaji nodded. "Your exploits are legendary, Commissioner. You have been a close affiliate of the Ambassador and his wife for over twenty years, including having once lived at his house for nearly a year. I'm honored that you chose me for such an important mission. I will not fail you."  
  
Kiyone rose, "Continue your research. Alert me when we gather our passengers at New Kyoto. Since you are so bright, you should know exactly who to expect."  
  
Kiyone walked out of the cockpit. She both anticipated and dreaded the coming reunion. She wasn't even aware of the slight tick that was starting to form around her left eye. She sighed. Things had been going so well, so peacefully, for so long.  
  
  
  
"Kiyone!!!" Mihoshi Masaki leaped up Yagami's gangplank and wrapped her arms around Kiyone's neck, rubbing her cheek against Kiyone's. "I missed you! It's been so long, I was afraid I wouldn't see you again. And then when Yagami landed in our front yard, well I just knew you cared after all!!! Oh, Kiyone, I could just cry! Woo-oo-waaa-waaa-haaaa!"  
  
Mihoshi hadn't changed. Not even a little. Kiyone had never known what race, or for that matter what species Mihoshi actually was. She passed for a tan, slightly fuzzy human, but in twenty-five years, she hadn't put on so much as a pound, gained a wrinkle or grew a gray hair.  
  
"Ah, Kiyone," a deep voice sounded from somewhere beyond the blubbering leech that had clamped onto Kiyone. "You look as wonderful as ever. Why, just seeing you two together really brings back the memories, and a tear to the eye."  
  
Noboyuki pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose noisily.   
  
"You two really make a perfect pair," Kiyone observed, detaching herself from her former partner.  
  
Noboyuki was merely human, and had aged accordingly. Despite not being a blood relative to the late Lord Yosho Katsuhito Masaki, he bore an uncanny resemblance to him in old age. When Mihoshi had announced their engagement fifteen years ago, Kiyone had been stunned and elated. It amazed her that no one had thought of it before, but they really did make a perfect match. After Earth had been unwillingly thrust into the galactic community during the last interplanetary war, Noboyuki had turned his architectural prowess to rebuilding some of the most devastated worlds. Despite his hair-brained antics at home, he proved to be an amazing leader when it came to rebuilding worlds. Once, when asked about it, he mentioned something about being inspired by the rebuilding of a Japanese city called Hiroshima, where his grandparents had perished during a Terran domestic conflict years before.  
  
For her part, Mihoshi assisted Noboyuki in his humanitarian missions by volunteering as a relief worker. The two never seemed happier and soon became so involved in their work that their visits home and to Kiyone stopped altogether. In the end, when Noboyuki became too old to do the work, they retired to one of the planets they had helped to rebuild, New Kyoto, where he worked as a professor in the local engineering college.   
  
"Come in, and have some tea. I have some bad news, I'm afraid, and you'll want to sit down when you hear it."  
  
She pressed a wall-mounted comlink. "Kaji, what is our status?"  
  
"We are on route to Earth. It will take two days to get there."  
  
"Very well, join us when you are ready."  
  
Kiyone followed Mihoshi and Noboyuki to the lounge, which was vaguely reminiscent of the living room at the Masaki residence. There she broke the news of Ryoko's disappearance and all the information she had. As she was speaking, Kaji joined them.  
  
"This is Detective First Class Kaji, he will be representing me directly in this investigation. Unfortunately, as much as I want to, I can't abandon my responsibilities and take a more active role, at least not yet. Kaji, however, has my complete confidence. Kaji?"  
  
Kaji sat down and accepted a cup of tea from Mihoshi.  
  
"Thank you. So far, the embassy guards have found no trace of Ryoko or any possible intruder. The only unusual finding was ambient traces of energy matching Jurai power, but it could be due to some exercises that Ryoko and Ryeka had been doing before the disappearance. Furthermore, the Jurai military has informed us that they have rechecked their records and found nothing unusual in the sensor logs for the period."  
  
Here, Kaji frowned, before he continued.  
  
"I should point out, in strictest confidence you understand, that GP intelligence has confirmed that the Jurai military was maintaining active surveillance on Ryoko, due to her past history. Naturally, their own intelligence service would want to protect their resources and avoid the public embarrassment of admitting they were spying on the ambassador's household. Jurai Military Intelligence are the most likely to have valuable information, quite possibly they recorded whatever happened. It will take some careful, off the record diplomacy to extract that information from them."  
  
"But why would they spy on Ryoko?" Mihoshi wondered innocently. "She has been behaving herself for so long! It doesn't seem fair."  
  
Kiyone smiled into her tea. Same old Mihoshi, she thought.   
  
"The Jurai military has occasionally had renegade elements involved in some unsavory activities. That attempted coup fifteen years ago, for instance. And don't for get the spectacular failures of the Jurai military in other years, not just fighting against Ryoko, but during the Bugrom invasion twenty years ago as well. Ryoko has humiliated them again and again. There are many in the Jurai military with a grudge against Ryoko, who would love to see her humiliated. So, they er... spy on her as you say, hoping to catch her up to no good. That information would provide leverage against the Ambassador to force him to do their will."  
  
"If that's true, couldn't she have been abducted by one of those renegade elements this time?" Mihoshi asked.  
  
There it was, laid out in the open. Mihoshi had voiced the bad feeling that had been crawling around in the back of Kiyone's mind, a feeling she hadn't been able to articulate.   
  
"Wow, Mihoshi," Kiyone murmured, "Washu always said you were a genius."  
  
"Really, how nice," Mihoshi bubbled. "Then here's another thought. We should suspect everyone who had a grudge against Ryoko. Maybe even Ayeka. After all, Ryoko did steal Tenchi from her."  
  
Kiyone's smile turned to a grimace. "Mihoshi, you dope, that's not a thought, it's a brain fart. Washu is a moron if she thinks you're a genius. Just who do you think set us on this mission? Besides, Ayeka and Ryoko buried the hatchet years ago."  
  
Mihoshi's eyes clouded up. "I'm sorry, Kiyone, don't be mad at me, I just wanted to help," she blubbered.  
  
Kaji chuckled as be interceded. "You have, Mihoshi, you have brought up a valuable point about chasing down grudges, starting with the Jurai military. Clearly, Kiyone lost a valuable partner when you married Mr. Masaki."  
  
"Oh, yes," Mihoshi brightened up immediately. "We were such a good team! Why this one time, Washu had us break into the Royal Science Academy together to..."  
  
Mihoshi launched into a story about her and Kiyone's past. Kiyone for her part gripped her teacup tightly and bore it as best she could. Twitch, twitch went the tick around her left eye.  
  
  
  
Later that night, while Noboyuki and Mihoshi retired to one of the staterooms for the night (Kiyone fought hard against the unwanted visions of what they might be doing there), Kiyone joined Kaji in the cockpit.  
  
"So, Commissioner," Kaji started innocently, "Mihoshi makes it sound as though you two were quite the team in your day."  
  
"She has a twisted view of reality, Detective," Kiyone clipped, "don't read too much into it. And, if you don't want to spend your career searching for missing house pets, I suggest you erase that Royal Science Academy anecdote from your memory."  
  
"Yes, Ma'am," Kaji voiced with mock seriousness, "You may depend on me."  
  
Kiyone reclined in the co-pilot's chair, Mihoshi's old station.   
  
"What was I thinking, offering them a ride to Earth? It would have been just as easy to let them take a space liner. It would have been so much more comfortable."  
  
"I'm sure they will find Yagami's stateroom to be luxurious enough, Commissioner."  
  
"I meant for me."  
  
Kaji smiled. "Still, Mihoshi was dead on for both points. If it turns out to be foul play, we must consider the possibility of renegade elements in the Jurai military. Less pleasant is the possibility that Empress Ayeka may be involved."  
  
Kiyone thought about that. "I came down on Mihoshi when she said that to drive it out of her mind. She believes too strongly in friendship to be burdened with those kinds of thoughts. However, the same thought had also crossed my mind, although, Ayeka has been a fierce and dedicated ruler. It's hard to believe she would stoop to something like this."  
  
"Power corrupts, as the saying goes," Kaji offered. "What if some long festering hurt has re-emerged now that she has the power to do something about it?"  
  
Kiyone didn't want to think about it. Years ago, when Ayeka's younger sister, Princess Sasami had prematurely merged her personality with the other half of her soul, a goddess named Tsunami, the stress of consolidating both personalities had driven her temporarily insane. The destruction had been horrific. It showed that one never really knew what lay deeply hidden inside a person. Of course, renegade elements of Jurai's military had been involved then, too.  
  
But this was Ayeka, Kiyone countered in her mind. For twenty years, she had ruled Jurai through crisis after crisis, never wavering, never showing the slighted sign of weakness. Why would she suddenly change now? Peace had reigned for the last ten years.  
  
Kiyone shook her head.  
  
"I refuse to believe that Ayeka is involved. However, that is based on my personal experience. I brought you along especially because I believed you could maintain an open mind where I may be biased. Let's wait till we have more information before we start second guessing ourselves or our friends. For now, let's collect evidence. What else have you found?"  
  
Kiyone and Kaji reviewed the scant evidence that was trickling in from the ongoing investigation. Searches of nearby vessels had proven fruitless. No unusual communications were detected going to or from Earth, at least not by the three involved intelligence communities, Earth, Jurai and Galaxy Police. There was no sign of a struggle, no blood from Ryoko or any possible opponent, nothing. It was as if Ryoko had simply ceased to exist.  
  
The two policemen, the detective and the former detective, bade each other goodnight and went to their respective staterooms. Like all good detectives, their minds continued to process possibilities long after they went to bed.  
  
Kiyone sat up in bed, leaning against the bulkhead thinking about the evening's conversation. Through the thin wall she could hear muffled sounds from the guest stateroom where Mihoshi and Noboyuki slept.  
  
"Oh, no, Nobi, honey," Mihoshi was giggling. "You promised no more finger puppets."  
  
Kiyone groaned and turned out the lights. She couldn't shake the thoughts about Ayeka's possible involvement in Ryoko's disappearance. Kiyone had been there twenty years ago when Ryoko had announced her engagement to Tenchi. Ayeka had barely seemed to give it a thought. She had even kissed Ryoko in congratulations, something that might have been interpreted by more primitive people as an omen of approaching apocalypse. Kiyone had also personally witnessed the five years of constant strife between the two that had preceded that day. But that had been before, and this was after. Everything had changed that day and Ayeka had gone from a jealous, spoiled and petty princess to ruler of a world that badly needed rebuilding. Not once in the twenty years that had followed had she ever uttered a word against Ryoko in public or private. Why would she start now? 


	4. A Pea in a Pod

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 4: A Pea in a Pod  
Ryoko discovers humility where she never wanted to  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 4  
  
The Juraian battleship Senzo loomed in High Earth Orbit. The long graceful curves and elegant architecture dominated over all of the primitive Terran space vehicles that passed around it. The idea of using wood to build an interstellar vessel was beyond the psychological ability of the Earthling engineers to accept. Vaguely reminiscent of a Viking ships with dozens of oar-like protrusions extending from the sides, Senzo was simply accepted as miraculous alien technology, to be admired, but not necessarily emulated.  
  
That suited Commander Tomokon just fine. The weaker these creatures remained, the less of a threat they would be. Tomokon remembered too well the hoards of invaders that had poured off the Earth's surface two decades earlier, nearly bringing the Juraian empire to it's knees. Despite the protestations of the Earth governments that the invaders had come from another parallel dimension, and had merely used Earth as a staging ground, Tomokon knew too well that a megalomaniacal Earthling named Jinai had led the invaders. It just proved that Earthlings were capable of such action, even if they denied it. Tomokon intended to see that Jurai remained the dominant power in the Universe, even if some in the government were prepared to let that power slip away. The abomination before him represented everything he hated about the liberals in Jurai society who were so quick to forgive and forget.  
  
Tomokon stood in the center of a cargo hold converted to a prison cell. The demon Ryoko hung suspended from the ceiling, still encased in a crystalline shell like a grotesque pendant. This evil creature had rained destruction down on Jurai for centuries before being driven off. Upon her return, supposedly reformed, she had continued to pillage banks and destroy Jurai warships before finally being contained in marriage by the Jurai ambassador. The fact that she had also saved the Empire and Earth multiple times mattered not in the least to Tomokon. Even a snake can pretend to be a good pet, just before it strikes.  
  
Ryoko, for her part, silently stared out from within the crystalline shell. She would rather have been giving Tomokon a piece of her mind, but she had discovered that the shell cut out all sound waves. Communication was possible only when the Juraians attached a sonic transducer to the outside of the shell, allowing sound waves to vibrate through. The Commander was doing just this.  
  
"Well, Ryoko, how are you feeling today?"  
  
The stream of obscenities that followed caused even the Commander to blush and he disconnected the transducer again. Holding it up for Ryoko to see, he wagged a finger at her. Then when her lips stopped moving, he connected it again.  
  
"Let's try to be civil, shall we? There is no need for such vulgarity," he said, as one might speak to a child.  
  
Ryoko bit out her response, "Do you realize what you have done, you moron? I'm the wife of the Ambassador! This is treason!!!"  
  
"It's only treason if we fail," the Commander replied coldly. "If we succeed, it's patriotism. And, I might add, given how easily we captured the 'dangerous' Ryoko, I'd say our chances are fair to good."  
  
Ryoko glared at him, not responding. Tomokon continued.  
  
"Aren't you the least bit curious how we captured you, or why?"   
  
"Not in the least," Ryoko snapped, "Your reasoning would be so ludicrous that I am afraid I would injure myself laughing hysterically inside this shell. Tenchi will come for me, just you wait, and then you'll be sorry."  
  
Tomokon hid his disappointment at not being able to gloat over her capture. He could ignore her jibes and tell her anyway, but it wouldn't be as fun as if she really wanted to know.  
  
"Ah, yes, Ambassador Masaki, the legendary Master of the Lighthawk Sword. Of course he will come for you, as will the others I suspect. After all, if we were clever enough to discover a way to trap you, surely you would expect us to plan for those other eventualities as well."  
  
Ryoko still refused to bite.  
  
"I hardly consider inviting the wrath of five or six of the most powerful beings in the Universe to be clever. It's more like suicide. But, it's your funeral," Ryoko allowed some boredom to show on her face. "Be sure your estate is in order, you may not have time later."  
  
Tomokon yawned. "Oh, dear, how frightening. Threats, threats, threats. As for the six 'most powerful beings in the Universe', I look forward to their eventual involvement. I require it, in fact. I could have taken any one of them instead of you, of course, to set events in motion. You were judged the easiest."   
  
Tomokon abruptly ripped the transducer of the shell and turned away, ignoring Ryoko's livid form, blasting energy bolt after energy bolt against inside of her prison. With each blast, the chrysalis only grew thicker. Tomokon crossed over to a flashing console by the wall.   
  
"What is it?" he snarled, "I am ... ah ... interrogating a prisoner."  
  
"Sir," the ship's XO replied on the viewer, nervously, "There is an incoming transmission, a person of some importance, I believe."  
  
The last part was delivered conspiratorially, so as not to arouse suspicion of the bridge crew, although it doubtlessly had the opposite effect. Idiot! Tomokon thought disgustedly.  
  
"Well, pipe it down here, immediately!!!"  
  
"Sir!" Senzo's executive officer disappeared.   
  
His image was replaced with static. Whoever was calling wasn't using a visual signal. It could only be...  
  
"Milady," the Commander dropped to his knee. Just because he couldn't see her didn't mean she wasn't watching him.  
  
"Tomokon, my trusted servant," the voice came eerily clear across the comm. It wasn't like receiving a call at all; it was like she was there in his mind. He suspected that anyone eavesdropping wouldn't hear anything at all. "You have captured the daughter of Washu?"  
  
"As you required, Milady, everything went exactly as you foretold."  
  
"And the others?" The wispy, ethereal voice drifted around his head hypnotically.  
  
"Most of the ones taking action are of no consequence. The demon Ryo-ohki is on it's way to Earth. We will be prepared for that. Washu has been probing our ships for any clues, but as you predicted the chrysalis that holds Ryoko, also masks her from the scans."  
  
Tomokon paused, unwilling to deliver the bad news.   
  
"Tsunami?" The voice asked, menacingly.  
  
"There has been no contact," Tomokon trembled slightly. His answer was greeted with silence.  
  
"Good," the caller surprised the Commander, "the only thing that could stop us would be Tsunami's premature intervention. We will take the others out one by one, and when we have finished even Tsunami won't be able to stand against us."  
  
Ryoko watched from within her confinement. She couldn't hear what was being said, be she clearly saw that Tomokon was deferring to someone else. That told her that he wasn't in charge, but was following orders. Who could be running him? Ryoko had many enemies, but most of them were low-life scum. She couldn't imagine any of them commanding this kind of fealty from a Jurai military commander. It might be someone in the Jurai hierarchy perhaps, someone playing political games with Ayeka. Ryoko pitied that person. When Ayeka found out, she would deal with them ruthlessly.   
  
Ryoko frowned. Despite the years of friendship that had passed between herself and Ayeka, she had a brief moment of doubt. Would Ayeka really care if someone wanted to take out Ryoko?  
  
Ryoko would have shaken her head if the crystal weren't holding her so tightly. Ryeka's birth had permanently put an end to their bickering.  
  
The sudden thought of her daughter raised a lump in Ryoko's throat. Where was Ryeka now, she wondered? It was Ryoko's desperate concern for her that had slowed Ryoko's reflexes just enough to get caught. Instead of being disgusted with her weakness. Ryoko reveled in it.  
  
"It was so ... human of me," She thought proudly. "I can't wait to tell Tenchi."  
  
Tomokon was finished with his call. He returned to the chrysalis and re-attached the transducer.  
  
"Well, now, where were we?"   
  
"Well, I seem to recall having a battle of wits with an unarmed man. What did your master have to say?" Ryoko asked, feigning disinterest. "Did he ask you to fetch the evening paper for him?"  
  
"Pfft," Tomokon sputtered. "You won't be so smug once we eliminate your friends one by one. My greatest hardship will be deciding who will be next."  
  
Ryoko yawned. "Yeah, whatever. Bored already. Say when is chow time? I'm famished."  
  
Indeed, the rumble of her stomach was clearly audible through the transducer. Tomokon smiled. At last he had an opportunity to practice being menacing, something the Jurai High Command frowned on in day-to-day operations.  
  
"Chow? Oh, you mean food. Don't be silly," Tomokon rapped his knuckles against the chrysalis. "How could we possibly get food inside this? But don't worry, we estimate that you should survive long enough for our purposes."  
  
He disconnected the transducer and walked away. Ryoko felt more desperate than she had at any time since her abduction. There was no doubt he meant what he said. Suddenly, the chrysalis felt less like a cage and more like a coffin.   
  
"Please hurry, Tenchi."  
  
  
  
Commander Tomokon felt better than he had since they had captured that dreaded demon. He finally had managed to shut her up. What a precious expression he had seen on her face when her fate had finally dawned on her. Yes very satisfying indeed. After all the humiliation that the Jurai military had suffered at her hands, it was time for payback. Fortunately, he would have some time to torture her a bit longer. It had been calculated that Ryoko could survive for fifteen more days inside the chrysalis before passing into a coma. Because it had never been decided if she was really alive, Tomokon couldn't be sure the imprisonment would eventually kill her. But, it certainly would keep her contained until they could think of something better. 


	5. Dinner at Masaki's

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 5: Dinner at Masaki's  
The gang reconvenes at Masaki, minus some members  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 5  
  
Tenchi awoke to the long forgotten sound of Yagami roaring in for a landing on the lake. Clearly, Mihoshi was not at the controls this time because the house and surrounding flora suffered no damage. Tenchi smiled ruefully as he remembered the constant repairs he had been forced to make on the house during the five years his newfound family had lived at the Masaki residence. By the end, he had forgotten what it had been like living as bachelors with only his father and grandfather. Despite the headaches, the damage, the bickering and the constantly unexpected space travel, it had all been worth it.   
  
Tenchi gazed down at the sleeping form of his daughter, who had taken to sneaking into his bed during the night for the past few days. It was the same every night. She bravely claimed she was not afraid, that she was sure her mother would soon return. Tenchi would tuck her in and go to bed. Every night, he would pretend to be asleep as her cautious footsteps arrived outside the bedroom door. Every night he would pretend wrap his arms around her in his sleep as she pressed her tearstained cheeks into his nightshirt. Every night he managed to wait until she drifted off to sleep before his own heartbreak streamed from his own eyes onto the pillowcase and sheets. Every morning, neither would not mention it, nor question the slightly damp pillows.  
  
"Wake up, honey," he gently shook his daughter. "They're here. Lets go welcome them."  
  
Ryeka wiped the sleep from her eyes and stretched. Tenchi's heart nearly broke; she was so adorable. Then with a burst of energy that reminded Tenchi of another adorable little girl he had once known, Ryeka exploded out of bed and out the bedroom door.  
  
"They're here, hurray!! I'll prepare breakfast! It'll be fantastic!" She was gone down the stairs in a flash.  
  
Tenchi chuckled as he changed into some house clothes. He was as excited as she was to see everyone together again. Well, almost everyone, he thought. Besides Ryoko, Tenchi's grandfather Yosho was long gone. And Sasami-Tsunami...  
  
Tenchi wondered where Sasami was now. After her traumatic reconsolidation with Tsunami, Sasami had gone off on her own, to find balance. Periodically, word would come that Tsunami had been sighted on some remote space lane. Sometimes, Sasami would call home, to let everyone know she was all right. When gently pressed for an explanation, Sasami would always change the subject. The sweet, innocent naiveté‚ that had ruled young Sasami's world had been ripped away with the realization of the destruction and death she had inadvertently caused during her merging with Tsunami. She had decided to take herself out of the equation by simply leaving.   
  
Tenchi finished dressing and went downstairs. It pained him to think that Sasami didn't feel that her friends could help her through her troubles. But, she wasn't a little girl anymore and she had to make her own choices. All her friends could do was wait and be there in case Sasami needed them.   
  
Tenchi went downstairs and out the door. Yagami had already made a turn on the lake and was pulling up to the dock. Tenchi made his way down as the gangplank was dropping. He was there to greet the occupants as they came ashore.   
  
"Tenchi, my son!!!!" Noboyuki was the first one off, followed Mihoshi. They both reached up and clasped Tenchi in a strong embrace. Tears brimmed in the elder Masaki's eyes. "It's been too long!"   
  
"My duties as ambassador keep me firmly grounded on Earth, Dad. But there is no reason you can't come home every now and again. Mihoshi, it's good to see you, you look great. And, it's clear to see that you are taking good care of my father. I thank you."  
  
"Oh, Tenchi," Mihoshi giggled.  
  
Kiyone and Kaji came down the plank last. Tenchi extracted himself from his father and went to Kiyone.  
  
"Kiyone," he said, grasping her hand warmly. "Thank you so much for coming. It means the world to me, and I know it means just as much to Ryeka."  
  
"It is nothing, Tenchi. We all owe you so much, we could not repay you in ten lifetimes," she turned to Kaji. "May I present Detective First Class Kaji? He will be heading up the actual investigation, and he has my complete confidence. Detective, Ambassador Tenchi Masaki."  
  
"I am at your service, Ambassador." Kaji bowed.  
  
"Tenchi looks so much like Grandfather," Mihoshi whispered to her husband. "Especially when they call him 'Ambassador'."  
  
"We're grateful for your help, Detective. And while your here, please include yourself in our little family. We have a tradition of welcoming strangers here. Well," Tenchi turned back towards the house, "let's go have some breakfast. Ryeka is hard at work in the kitchen."  
  
The little group followed Tenchi off of the dock and towards the house. Noboyuki was already talking to a willing Kaji.  
  
"Did you know I built this house? Well, rebuilt it I should say. I restored it for my first wife, Achika, Tenchi's mother. Katsuhito, Tenchi's grandfather, took a great chance on trusting me to do it and it launched my architectural career. Those skylights were Tenchi's mother's idea. And Mihoshi once destroyed this doorway with a Galaxy Police battloid..."  
  
  
  
"Grandpa! Grandma!" Ryeka jumped off of the stool where she was washing dishes and dashed over to Noboyuki and Mihoshi, who started getting teary eyed again.  
  
"Ah, my darling granddaughter," said Noboyuki, scooping Ryeka up. Fortunately, Mihoshi was there to assist. "My goodness, can it really be you? You're all grown up!"  
  
"No, I'm not!" Ryeka asserted, "So don't you dare stop bringing me presents!"  
  
"Tenchi, she's beautiful," Kiyone chimed in.  
  
"And talented. Wait till you see the spread she laid out for you."  
  
The group retired to the dining room for breakfast. There was hardly any place to sit because the table was so covered with fruit, breads, fish, juices and so on. Everyone was very impressed and said that even Sasami couldn't have done better. Breakfast passed uneventfully while everyone caught up with each other. Mihoshi and Noboyuki were finishing another school year and thought they might spend summer back on Earth. Tenchi reported that Earth had nearly completed construction of a space fleet. Soon, they would be able to join in intragalactic trade with Jurai and the Galactic Federation. The group politely included Kaji in the conversation and he briefly described his burgeoning career in the Galaxy Police. Soon, the food disappeared and the discussion reluctantly turned to the matter at hand. Since Kaji was officially the investigative officer, he was allowed to guide the discussion.  
  
"Although I know you have answered these questions, they serve more to help us get into the proper frame of mind for this sort of thing. So, please bare with me, okay? Good. Now, who was the last person to see Mrs. Masaki?"  
  
Ryeka, who had been clearing the table stopped and walked over to Kaji.  
  
"I was, sir," she half bowed, half curtsied. "We were playing hide and seek. But, really, she was teaching me to develop my powers."  
  
"Your powers," Kaji probed.  
  
"Mmmm hmmm." Ryeka nodded. Then, suddenly she vanished, and appeared behind Tenchi, then disappeared again. Her voice floated down from above Kaji.  
  
"Mommy could do this, too. I have been able to do some stuff since I was little, but I have gotten much better in the last year."  
  
Ryeka was seated in the lotus position, upside down on the ceiling above Kaji. Everyone applauded politely. Kiyone seemed a little surprised, but Mihoshi and Noboyuki beamed like the proud grandparents they were.  
  
"My goodness, you certainly are talented," Kaji commented, as though teleportation was somehow as common as playing the piano for a nine-year-old. "How far can you or your mother teleport, if I may ask?"   
  
Kaji craned his neck to observer her. Ryeka vanished and reappeared next to him.  
  
"I'm not sure about Mommy. I can teleport all over the estate, but I never tried to go further. Also, I can only teleport to places I have been before. I have to be able to picture it in my mind."  
  
Tenchi nodded in agreement and added his own two cents.  
  
"Ryoko once explained to me that she has a sort of sphere of power or influence. She can teleport anywhere within her "reach". She couldn't, for instance teleport from here to the moon. Once, we were able to teleport to another dimension. Although she had never been there, she was able to visualize it by picking up on an image that was being transmitted into my mind."  
  
Kaji made a few notes. "So, since you and Ryeka were both on the estate when she disappeared, it is safe to assume that whatever danger she may have been in, it must have been localized. That means she should have been able to teleport out of danger to some other location."  
  
"Yes, I thought so, too. But, she has much greater powers than simple teleportation. She is capable of producing enough energy to destroy a small ship, say Yagami's size, if she had too." Tenchi nodded. He was watching Ryeka, whose eyes seemed to be growing red. "Ryeka, honey, you don't have to go through this, if you don't want to."  
  
Ryeka crossed over to sit on Tenchi's lap. "I want to stay."  
  
Tenchi nodded and continued. "I can't imagine something powerful enough to defeat her arriving without attracting a lot of attention."  
  
Kaji nodded. "I agree. I have been reviewing the confidential Galaxy Police files on her, as well as the records from Jurai. Whatever happened, it's clear that she didn't or couldn't put up a fight. If she was taken she must have been completely contained somehow. Or, perhaps she just left or had an accident. Let concentrate on the first possibility, since clearly it is the one I would most be able to help you with. The other two are well within the abilities of local law enforcement to handle.  
  
"So, what could contain such a powerful being? Has it ever been done before?"  
  
Kiyone answered this time. "Twice that we know of. Once by the criminal Kagato on board the Sozja. Ryoko reported that Kagato had contained her inside a sort of hourglass. After witnessing Ambassador Masaki's death, she was able to summon enough power to break free. Then, Washu reported that Dr. Clay held her inside a giant beaker. Washu had to free her that time."  
  
Kaji blinked for a second. "I'm sorry, did you say 'Ambassador Masaki's death'? Forgive my naiveté, but you seem very much alive, Ambassador."  
  
Tenchi smiled and stroked his mustache thoughtfully. "I know it is sounds incredible. But, by all accounts, I was definitely dead. Then Tsunami came to me and somehow revived me. It really isn't that unusual. Here on Earth, before our medical technology benefited from the Juraians, we recorded many cases of drowning victims being revived after being pulled from sub-freezing water after as long as twenty minutes. After the destruction of Ryou-o's pod, I was exposed to the cold of space before Ayeka's guardians were able to come and try to protect me. It's possible the cold preserved me until Tsunami could revive me."  
  
Kaji made a few more notes. "Is Mrs. Masaki capable of independent space flight?"  
  
"No," Tenchi answered. "Although she can survive in the vacuum of space, she requires a spaceship to travel. She used to have a ship called-"  
  
"Ryo-ohki, I know." Kaji answered, checking his data pad. "The demon Ryo-ohki, creation date unknown, extensive criminal record ... and of course reading this to you is the stupidest thing in the world."  
  
Everyone had a chuckle. Kaji blushed a little at having forgotten who he was sitting with.  
  
"Ah, anyways, we know that Ryo-ohki was more or less Ryoko's ship and companion for over a thousand years. However, it seems that for the last several years, Ryo-ohki has been the personal confidant of the Empress of Jurai. We didn't know for sure that Ryoko wasn't space capable on her own, though."  
  
Tenchi frowned. "I hope that the information you are gathering will be used for the purposes of finding my wife, Detective, and not for some other purpose."  
  
Kiyone interceded. "Galaxy Police records are extensive, but I can assure you, Ryoko's files are classified at the highest level. No one will be prying into your family business."  
  
Kaji nodded. "Quite correct. I am sorry if I disturbed you at all. I am just trying to fill in the blanks. Actually, I am trying to eliminate possibilities. For instance, I can tell that it is highly unlikely that Mrs. Masaki decided just to leave. Maybe twenty years ago that would have been a credible theory. But clearly, she is now a completely devoted wife and mother. I'll let you know that Galaxy Police has developed a sensor to detect Ryoko's very unique life energy, similar to the common wrist scanners that GP officer's wear to help them detect criminals. I scanned the Earth on our way in. I am sorry to report that I could detect no sign of her anywhere on Earth."  
  
The group stared at the floor, silently. Nobody wanted to be the first to speak.  
  
"Ah, ehem. Well." Kaji couldn't seem to think of what to say. Tenchi suddenly stood and spoke up.  
  
"Good. That means she isn't laying hurt or worse somewhere. I am now certain that she was somehow taken."  
  
Kaji stood as well. "That means she would have to be contained. I must find out more about how that was done before."  
  
"I think," Tenchi said, "That it's time you spoke to Washu." 


	6. Another meeting of the minds, also inclu...

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 6: Another meeting of the minds, also including Mihoshi  
Washu's dungeon, or laboratory rather  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 6  
  
Washu rubbed her eyes and yawned. She was quite tired. She hadn't left her lab since the night Ryoko had disappeared. Ordinarily, she relished a challenge like finding a person who had vanished into thin air leaving no trace on any dimensional level. For some reason this time, her heart wasn't in it.   
  
When her ... friend? Or perhaps companion was a better word. Since Katsuhito had died, Washu had started to think more and more about things like life, and death. For twenty thousand years she hadn't given them even a first thought. She knew without knowing how that she was immortal and would never die. It bothered her that she couldn't remember how she came into being alive in the first place.   
  
Washu had not known a family of her own. Her natural child had been taken from her millennia ago. He had grown up, lived his live and died all without ever knowing Washu. Washu had created Ryoko as a surrogate, but for most of Ryoko's life, Washu had honestly only thought of her as an experiment, an attempt to recreate the Jurai power. It was only since coming to Earth that Washu really started to experience attachments to other people. There was something magical about Tenchi and about Earth. Earthlings lived their lives in the blink of an eye compared to beings like Washu, or even the Juraians. Yet they lived so much more fully. Even Katsuhito, whom Washu had actually known as Yosho even before coming to Earth, was so much more alive here. So much so that Washu at first took him to be an ordinary human, before realizing that he was the legendary warrior Yosho. The fifteen years that she had lived with Katsuhito on Earth seemed longer that the millennia she had lived without him.  
  
And then, he was gone. Washu knew that he was in reality joined with the tree Funaho, but for all practical purposes he was dead. And in another hundred years or so, Funaho would die, too. Tenchi would be dead, and Ryeka would be dead. Ryoko may still be alive, but Washu knew that she wouldn't live forever. Although she hadn't told Ryoko, Washu had coded her genes to have a fixed life span. It was almost as if Washu were subconsciously trying to give her something that she herself could never have: mortality, and all of the earnestness that came with it.  
  
Yes, soon, everyone she now cared about would be dead, but she would live on. And for once, she wasn't looking forward to it.  
  
The door-crab rattled and she heard the dimensional portal come into being.  
  
"Little Washu," Tenchi's voice, older and deeper, still held the caring, respectful tenor that she adored. "There is someone here I'd like you to talk to."  
  
Washu had already run Kaji's face through her computer. The search had been narrowed since it was clear he was arriving with Kiyone, so Washu of course knew all about him. It was nothing for the greatest... well, you know.  
  
"Ah, Detective First Class Kaji, of the Galaxy Police. It's a pleasure to meet you." Washu hopped off of her floating cushion and walked over to shake his hand.  
  
"The pleasure is all mine, Professor Washu. It isn't every day you meet the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe."  
  
"You can be thankful of that," Tenchi barbed good naturedly as he strode back to the portal. "Forgive me for leaving so abruptly, but I have always suspected that Professor Washu hasn't finished her experiments with me."  
  
"Quite right, Tenchi," Washu pouted after his retreating back. "I am years behind schedule. Once this little mess is cleared up, you can be sure I'll be coming for you next!!!"  
  
After Tenchi was gone, Washu returned to her cushion and punched a few keys on her trans-dimensional console. A second cushion appeared for Kaji, a rare honor in Washu's laboratory.  
  
"Won't you please sit down, Detective? I find you so much more attractive than Kiyone, and much less dangerous than Mihoshi. You wouldn't believe the trouble she has caused me."  
  
Kaji seated him self politely on the cushion and crossed his legs. He took out his data pad and punched up some data. Washu snickered at his archaic technology before she caught her self. Kaji pretended not to notice.  
  
"Well, your file states that when confronting the notorious Professor Washu, it is best to assume that she already knows what you want to ask, so it is better not to waste her time." Kaji lowered the data pad. "In that case, what is your answer?"  
  
Washu punched a few keys on her console. A monitor appeared in mid air about six feet away, displaying an hourglass shaped object with a female figure inside. Next to it, an image of a science beaker, also containing a female figure.  
  
"I figured out almost immediately that she had been kidnapped. That would necessitate holding her somehow. You already know of two of the three times is has happened before. Kagato and Clay."  
  
Kaji immediately checked his data pad. "There was a third time?"  
  
"Of course. When Yosho trapped her in the cave for seven hundred years."  
  
Kaji knuckled his head. "I never thought of that. How was that done?"  
  
"Yosho captured three jewels that she uses for energy and locked her in the cave. She only gained enough power to escape when Tenchi brought the stones, attached to the hilt of the sword Tenchi, close enough for her to call some power to herself. However, I know absolutely that it is impossible to extract the stones from her person without using great amounts of power. Clay was able to do it, but I easily detected the energy expenditure on my sensors, although I wasn't sure what it was at the time. It lingered for days. No such energy was detected this time. Therefore, she had to have been taken with the jewels intact. Only Kagato was able to do that."  
  
"How was he able to do that?"  
  
"Kagato had learned to tap into the telepathic wavelength that Ryoko uses. When I created both Ryoko and Ryo-ohki, it was necessary to have some form of communications with them in case I needed to extract data from them, or to make subtle changes to their designs. I used an obscure telepathic frequency for this purpose. Since in all of my research I had only rarely discovered other naturally occurring telepaths, I had assumed that this would be secure. However, just as a computer network can be hacked into, Kagato hacked into my telepathic link with them and took control. At the time, this amused me so I didn't take any action. Then, when he captured me, it was too late to do anything until Mihoshi inadvertently rescued me."  
  
"Is it possible that someone has tapped into Ryoko's wavelength and spirited her away?" Kaji asked.  
  
Washu shook her head. "Ryoko somehow broke Kagato's control on her own. After that, I conducted a few discrete tests and discovered that she is no longer susceptible to telepathic persuasion. Kagato must have felt his control over her slipping away, so he imprisoned her inside some kind of crystal hourglass."  
  
"And of course, you know how that was done?"  
  
Washu scowled. "Actually, young man, that answer eludes me. I can't think of any element in existence, and even a few unreal ones that could do the trick. It's a mystery. But that's not all that happened. From within her prison, Ryoko witness Tenchi's destruction at Kagato's hands. Somehow, in her emotional distress she was able to summon enough energy to break out of her confinement. That alone I might have suspected was within her power, but what she did next is still a mystery to me."  
  
Washu leaned forward conspiratorially. "Her gems were something I have always had since I lost my memory twenty thousand years ago. Only a handful of them exist and she needs at least two to have her full power. Yosho managed to wrest at least three from her and stored them in the hilt of his sword. One has been completely destroyed. It exploded when Tenchi severed her hand in their first encounter. He returned one to her, but it too was destroyed when Yosho severed her hand again while she was back under Kagato's control. Somehow, after she escaped from Kagato, she was able to call that gem back into existence. That gem combined with one she kept hidden as an earring restored her full strength and she was able to oppose Kagato."  
  
Kaji shook his head and looked down at his data pad. "Wait, Ryoko had both of her hands cut off? The Galaxy Police records make no mention of that."  
  
Washu grabbed his collar and gave him a little shake. "Stay with me here. She can regenerate her hands as part of her self-repair process. But, she can't regenerate the gems. No one can, not Kagato, not Clay, not even me. I examined the gem after she returned. It wasn't a copy of the original. It was the original. Somehow the raw, primitive love that she felt for Tenchi opened up great enough power to her to somehow bring back a gem that had previously been annihilated."  
  
Kaji tapped his data pad for a moment, considering what Washu had said. "You say she used the jewels as an energy source. Where did these jewels come from?"  
  
Washu smiled wryly. "That used to be my most guarded secret. So many have sought the answer, but I refused them all. Now, for some reason, I just don't care. I'll tell you."  
  
Washu leaned even more forward until her lips were just touching Kaji's ear. She could feel heat rising in his face as he blushed.  
  
"I don't know!"  
  
She leaned back and laughed. "I have always had them. It took ten thousand years for me to realize they contained great amounts of energy. They can absorb energy too. But, the most amazing thing I found was that they resonate at exactly the same frequency as the Jurai Power, but with a slight polarity shift. It is almost as if they were a physical manifestation of the Jurai Power, or something like it. That led to my research to attempt to understand and duplicate the power. Since the Jurai Power seemed greatly tied to the tree Tsunami, and life in general, my research led me to attempt create life in Ryoko."  
  
Washu sighed. "But, it lead me nowhere. I had discovered a way to store and extract energy in the jewels, but not how to artificially create the energy itself. Because Ryoko is a living being, created partially from my own ovum, she generates a natural living energy. This keeps the jewels recharged in periods where she isn't expending lots of power. But to create just the Jurai Power, mechanically, without using life? I have never done it."  
  
"What about Ryo-ohki?" Kaji inquired.  
  
"Good point," Washu nodded. "Ryo-ohki was my second attempt at mechanically, or biomechanically creating the Jurai power. Once again, I had to give Ryo-ohki an organic base so that she could create living energy. That is why she must revert back to a living form of a cabbit or her present form after long expenditures of energy. I was able to synthesize a crystal form similar to the gems that could store life energy, but only at a very small fraction of the efficiency of the original jewels."  
  
Both Kaji and Washu stared at each other.  
  
"Of course," Washu gasped, slapping her forehead. "The synthetic crystal. It absorbs energy at the same wavelength that Ryoko and Ryo-ohki produce it. If she were completely surrounded by it, it could contain her!"  
  
"Could Clay and Kagato have had access to this technology?" Kaji asked, furiously writing the information down in his data pad.  
  
"Yes, of course. Kagato was my assistant! We developed the crystal together. And Cray, the filthy rat, he was the chairman on the board where I presented my early works for my degree. He certainly could have developed it on his own from my original data. However, in the five thousand years since I developed it, I have never heard of anyone else coming even close to pursuing that kind of research. The secrets must have died with Kagato and Clay."  
  
But even as she said it, her argument rang hollow. Kaji killed it with his next statement.  
  
"Clearly, someone else knew how to do it."  
  
"And, since it the crystal resonates at the same frequency as the Jurai Power, it could account for the ambient readings we found around the estate at the time. We thought they were left over from Tenchi and Ryeka's search, but it could have been from the kind of crystal we are talking about."  
  
"I think we should return to the sites where you recorded the greatest concentrations of ambient Jurai Power, and scan again." Kaji announced.  
  
Washu agreed and they went to inform Tenchi of their progress. When they got to the dining room, they were surprised to see that another visitor had arrived.  
  
Ryo-ohki was sitting at the table with Ryeka in her lap. Ryeka was hugging Ryo-ohki as though she would never let her go. Ryo-ohki was talking to Tenchi.  
  
"Of course, Ayeka is most concerned. She dispatched me personally to come here to see what we could do. I would have come anyway even if she hadn't. She would have come herself except for some matters of state that need to be cleared up first. I imagine it won't be too long before she does show up."  
  
"It is still a great relief to have you here. I know Ryeka will probably do her best to insure that you never leave. Ah, and here is Washu!"  
  
"Hi, there, Ryo-ohki," Washu chirped up. "Long time no see! You look great!"  
  
Ryo-ohki smiled and nodded to Washu. Unlike with Ryoko, Washu didn't user her own ovum to create Ryo-ohki, so Ryo-ohki never considered Washu her mother. She was more like her personal physician.  
  
"Well, Washu," Ryo-ohki greeted her, "we haven't heard hide nor hair from you for quite some time. Ayeka nearly sent me to check on you twice this year to see if you weren't creating some universe obliterating robot or a dimension collapsing coffee machine."  
  
Everybody laughed. Washu's malevolent streak was known by most in the room by personal experience.  
  
"Ha, ha," Washu stuck her tongue out. "All that schooling and all you can think of to do is to belittle your creator? How about a little respect?"  
  
Ryo-ohki shook her head. "Nope, I thank you for creating me, but I like to think I have gotten where I am on my own."  
  
"Quite true," Kiyone chimed in. "Despite the objections of some of the Galaxy Police, I issued a report listing you as one of the most valuable assets we could ever hope to recruit. I know how devoted you are to Ayeka, but if you ever find the need to expand into a different line of work, Galaxy Police is starving for someone of your intellect."  
  
Ryo-ohki blushed at the complement. Kiyone had become a good friend over the past three years. At Ayeka's direction, Ryo-ohki had cultivated the relationship to improve her intelligence gathering capabilities. To her surprise, Kiyone quickly learned to challenge Ryo-ohki into developing analysis skills. Soon after, Kiyone began frequently inviting Ryo-ohki to GPHQ to discuss various cases for an alternative point of view. While many other people saw only Ryo-ohki's cosmic physical powers, Kiyone always seemed more interested in her intellectual abilities.  
  
"And who is this handsome individual you are dragging around like a trophy, Washu?" Ryo-ohki changed the subject.  
  
Now it was Kaji's turn to blush. He stepped forward and bowed.  
  
"I am Detective First Class Kaji, of the Galaxy Police. I am honored to meet such a legendary heroine, Lady Ryo-ohki."  
  
"Mmmm," said Ryo-ohki, licking her lips. "You can take my statement, anytime."  
  
"Aunt Ryo-ohki, really!" Ryeka scolded. "There are children present."  
  
Once again, everyone laughed. Washu and Kaji seated themselves and explained their theories about the jewels and Ryo-ohki's crystals. When they were done, Ryo-ohki spoke up.  
  
"I agree, I think we should search again and look for energy traces that could be related. Washu, I'll transform to my crystal form. You take readings of the residual energy to form a base line. Then, we can compare it to Lord ... I mean Ambassador Tenchi's Light Hawk wings. If a slight difference can be found, we could calibrate the scanners to pick up on it."  
  
"You are a genius, Ryo-ohki! Lets get back to my lab."  
  
"Ohh," Tenchi moaned. "I really don't like going there. Too many bad memories."  
  
  
  
Washu placed the large crystal on the scanning pad. Ryo-ohki's cabbit face peered out from the crystal like a hologram.  
  
"Ree-oowww!" She scolded. Her cabbit form lacked the anatomical development for speech.  
  
"Yes, yes, be patient. It will only take a second."  
  
Everyone stood around and peered at the crystal.  
  
"Does it hurt her to be in that form?" Kaji asked.   
  
"No, but imagine I cut off your head using anesthetic. It wouldn't hurt, but you would know that you couldn't use your hands and legs. It is like losing parts of yourself that you are used to using. Ryo-ohki's most complete form is as a battleship. Her sensors give her a more complete view of existence than you or I could ever hope to see. She chooses the humanoid form most of the time because it gives her the warm intimacy of human contact."  
  
"Mreeow! Mree-oooooow-ry-ow!" Ryo-ohki howled, and the crystal seemed to blush.  
  
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Ryo-ohki," Washu soothed. "I stayed on Earth for the same reason. You don't think Katsuhito and I were just friends, do you?"  
  
"Oh, yuck, Grandma Washu," Ryeka grimaced.  
  
"Yeah," Tenchi agreed, "way too much information."  
  
"I think it's sweet," Mihoshi said.  
  
Washu chuckled and took the crystal off the scanner.   
  
"There," she said, putting it on the floor. "All finished."  
  
Ryo-ohki morphed into her humanoid form. She was still blushing slightly and didn't seem to want to make eye contact with Kaji. Ryeka ran over and climbed up into her arms.  
  
"Okay, now you, Tenchi."  
  
Tenchi closed his eyes and held out his hands. Almost instantly, three symmetrical bands of light spread out in front of him. The light was so pure that everything around him seemed dimmer by comparison. Slowly, the wings of the Light Hawk spun in front of Tenchi, like a window fan spinning in a light breeze. Washu quietly passed a handheld scanner in front of them.  
  
"Okay, Tenchi, I have it," she whispered.  
  
Tenchi opened his eyes and the Light Hawk wings faded. Everyone seemed to let out a breath that they had been collectively holding. Ryo-ohki moved forward to assist Washu.  
  
"There, lets run the scans through the filter and remove any ambient radiation. Good, now, lets do a comparison of the wavelengths."  
  
"They're the same, but we knew that." Washu countered. "Do a comparison of the angular alignment."  
  
"Yes! That's it! Look!"  
  
The others crowded around. But their eagerness gave way to puzzlement.   
  
"It just looks like gobbledygook to me," Noboyuki groused.  
  
"No, here," Ryo-ohki pointed. "Our energy emissions are at right angles to each other. It is like a reflection of light, the photons in the reflection oscillate at right angles to each other, that's is why polarized sunglasses can eliminate glare. They only allow non-reflected light to enter."  
  
Washu was busy calling up a file. "Let's compare an old scan of Ryoko's to this new data. There! Her energy has the same polar alignment as Ryo-ohki's."  
  
Ryeka reached out from Ryo-ohki's shoulder to pull at Washu's shirt.  
  
"What about mine? Is my energy like my mommy or my daddy?"  
  
The group stared quietly at her. Tenchi spoke.  
  
"Go on, Washu scan her. It might help to know."  
  
Washu picked up her portable "Do something small, like levitate an inch off the ground."  
  
Ryo-ohki set Ryeka down and Ryeka did as she was asked. Washu passed the scanner over her body. Then, she did it again.  
  
"Well, well, how quantum," she said, absently. "Shrodinger would have loved to see these results."  
  
"What?" Ryo-ohki asked.  
  
Washu called up the data. "Ryeka emanates a juxtaposition of both types. You see, I can only detect the polarity by calibrating for it. If I am testing for Ryoko's polarity alignment, I find that but not Tenchi's. But if I recalibrate for Tenchi's, I find that but not Ryoko's. Her energy oscillates in both dimensions at the same time. They should interfere with each other and cancel out, but instead, each type remains in opposite phase, becoming more dominant when resonating with a similar form of energy. Ryeka, it seems that you exist in more than one dimension at the same time. You are a multi-dimensional being."  
  
"Just like Tsunami," Tenchi said.  
  
Ryeka let out a deep breath and sighed.  
  
"So, does all that gobbledygook mean you can find my mommy?"  
  
Washu cackled "Ah-ha! You bet! Now that we know what to look for, it'll be easy!!!! We'll first scan the estate for Jurai energy with Ryo-ohki's angular alignment."  
  
She called up a map of the estate. Several regions glowed faintly. "Then, we'll eliminate energy signatures that have too young a half life and try to zero in on residual traces that are about the right age. Two traces were left, one in the forest and one on the hillside over looking the lake.  
  
"Eliminate Ryeka's signature," Ryo-ohki said.  
  
"Hey now, who's the scientist here, anyway?" Washu scowled, but she did it.  
  
One blur remained, on the hillside. Washu snapped her fingers and a dimensional tunnel opened next to the group.  
  
"That's it, let's go!" and she dove into the tunnel.  
  
  
  
The group rolled out of the tunnel on the hillside. After shaking off the disorienting trip, they started looking around. Washu and Kaji used their scanners while Ryo-ohki transformed into her cabbit mode and sniffed around. Mihoshi and Noboyuki poked around in the bushes, calling Ryoko's name, while Tenchi and Ryeka stood by helplessly. Suddenly, Ryo-ohki started mewling for attention, then shook her head and transformed.  
  
"There is some kind of gel here, Washu!"  
  
Washu hurried over and took some readings. "It's some kind of near silicon base semi liquid. But, these readings... Ryeka, can you produce a hand blast like your mother?"  
  
Ryeka looked sheepishly at her dad. "I'm not allowed ever since I accidentally burned down the tool shed last year."  
  
"It's okay, honey," Tenchi encouraged. "Do as Washu says."  
  
Washu pointed to the ground near Ryo-ohki. "Give me a low power blast right here."  
  
Ryeka scowled in concentration and raised a hand. Energy gathered around her in a wispy form, and then rapidly formed a glowing ball. With a push of her hand, Ryeka sent the ball streaking into the ground near Washu and Ryo-ohki. The 'low power' blast knocked Washu and Ryo-ohki off their feet.  
  
"I'm sorry," Ryeka's eyes started to cloud up. "I told you, I'm not very good at controlling it"  
  
But, Washu wasn't listening. She scrambled back and crawled around on the ground, peering at the scorched earth.  
  
"Yeah! Here it is!!!!" she yelled triumphantly.  
  
Washu picked something up and held it aloft for all to see. It was a tiny crystal.  
  
"The gel congealed into this crystal as a reaction to the Jurai Power. Whoever took Ryoko must have spray this gel all over her. When she fought back..." 


	7. Bad breath and bad acting

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 7: Bad breath and bad acting  
Ryoko torments her tormenters.  
  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 7  
  
"... And when you fought back, the gel congealed into the crystal compound that holds you now." Commander Tomokon gloated over his captive. He had finally given in and told Ryoko how they had captured her.  
  
"Each time you exerted your energy, the crystal simply stored it, growing stronger and holding you that much tighter. For years, you have humiliated us by flaunting your great power. Well, now the greater your power, the greater your prison."  
  
Tomokon glared smugly at Ryoko, daring her to say something smart. She did.  
  
"That's nice, I have to pee."  
  
"Aaaarrrgh!!!" Tomokon ripped off the transducer and stalked out of the cell, leaving Ryoko alone again.  
  
That was okay, because she was very hungry and a little disoriented. She couldn't remember the exact number of days she had been in the cell, but it seemed like forever. Fortunately, the crystal seemed to be air permeable, so at least she could breathe, but she would have killed for a cheeseburger. And she really did have to pee.  
  
  
  
Tomokon stalked through the corridors towards his stateroom. He wished he could kill the demon now, but unfortunately for him, the crystal that held her also protected her. They couldn't penetrate it enough to attack her without leaving themselves open to attack. Still, at least she was contained.  
  
Now it was time to work on the next part of the plan. Ryoko's friends would be coming for her, that much was certain. In fact, the computer simulation had given a 35 percent probability that they would have been here by now. In another two days, the probability would be one hundred percent.  
  
Tomokon entered his stateroom and keyed the communications console. The officer of the day on the bridge appeared.  
  
"Lieutenant, listen to me carefully. I have received intelligence that some separatist renegade forces from the Earth will try to infiltrate Senzo within the next two days. I want all scanners on full, all non-scheduled traffic held at a distance and searched, and I want around the clock patrols on all decks. Commander Tomokon out."  
  
There, Tomokon thought, that should hold them off for a while. In his mind, Tomokon tried to foresee how to catch the next victim of his Lady's ire. They would be well guarded and certainly capable in their own right. Washu, the trickster, was never what she seemed. Using illusion, lifelike decoys and her powerful intelligence Washu had made Doctor Clay look like a senile old fart. Washu also casually invented massively destructive weapons and then discarded them when she grew bored.  
  
Then there was the Ambassador, Tenchi Masaki, who could generate Light Hawk wings and the Light Hawk sword. He had led a charmed life, defeating opponent after opponent. His power would certainly be a problem.  
  
The Demon Ryo-ohki was a problem much like Ryoko had been, except her power was far more limited. When she was in humanoid form, though, many of her powers were suppressed.  
  
The Galaxy Police were ... not a problem in the least. Tomokon snorted. GP technology was barely superior to that of the squabbling Earthlings.   
  
The wild card, and the ultimate prize, was Tsunami. The computer had only given even odds that she would appear to take some role. She must, if Tomokon was to receive his reward.  
  
The console beeped for attention. It was the officer of the deck.  
  
"Sir, sensors detect a Galaxy Police cruiser approaching. It classifies as Yagami."  
  
"I'll be right there." Tomokon lurched of his bed and headed to the bridge.  
  
  
  
"They've seen us," Kaji reported. He was flying casually towards the giant Jurai battleship Senzo on a standard approach vector. Almost immediately, they were hailed.  
  
"Galaxy Police vessel, you are violating a Juraian military security perimeter, please hold your position and state the nature of your business."  
  
Kaji brought Yagami to a stand still while Tenchi keyed the console.  
  
"This is Ambassador Masaki. I request permission to come aboard. Galaxy Police has made an official request for liaison with Jurai Military Intelligence regarding an investigation they are pursuing."  
  
There was silence for a while, then, a heavy jowled man appeared in the viewer, scowling.  
  
"Ambassador, this is highly irregular. We had no advance warning that you were coming. I must insist that you go back and apply through channels."  
  
"Commander Tomokon, I presume? Look, you and I both know this case involves a missing person, namely my wife. I am stunned by your lack of cooperation. Please, allow us to come aboard."  
  
"Request denied, Ambassador, goodbye." Tomokon cut the connection.  
  
"How rude," Washu commented.  
  
"One second," Tenchi said dialing up another connection on the communications viewer.  
  
Empress Ayeka must have been expecting the call because she appeared almost immediately.  
  
"Hello, Ambassador, how can I be of assistance?"  
  
"Hello, Your Highness. I am sorry to bother you, but I seem to be having trouble with one your military commanders."  
  
"Let me guess, Tomokon, right?" Ayeka nodded. "A very rude individual. I don't think he approves of my reign. Some people are like that, self-righteously believing the can disobey rules they don't agree with. Very well, Tenchi, I'll deal with it."  
  
Ayeka disappeared. Tenchi mentally envisioned her calling Tomokon and politely reminding him that he served the Jurai Royal family and not the other way around.  
  
At the end of Tenchi's imagined conversation, the viewer reactivated and Tomokon's ugly face appeared. He didn't like at all angry, though. In fact, he looked as if he had won some kind of battle.  
  
"Ambassador, you may come aboard now. I'm glad we are both aware of our respective chains of commands. It will make for more clear communications."   
  
"I agree, especially since both chains of command end at the same place. Of course, my chain of command is much shorter than yours, but I hope that won't make you uncomfortable."  
  
Tomokon seemed unable to disguise his hatred for Tenchi and hung up without answering.  
  
"So, that was what it was all about. He wants to know that anytime he feels like it, he will refuse our requests and I will be forced to go to Ayeka for every little thing."  
  
"I don't like him," Mihoshi said.  
  
Kaji brought Yagami along side of Senzo and extended the docking tube. Once secured and pressurized, Tenchi, Kaji, Kiyone and Washu all went down. Ryeka accompanied her father, but only to the edge of the ramp. There, she looked around the docking area, kissed him and ran back up the ship to where Mihoshi was waiting for her. Yagami's docking tube retracted and a Juraian crewman sealed the port.  
  
In the docking area, there were four armed guards and Commander Tomokon.   
  
"This is quite a reception for a representative of your own government, Commander," Tenchi said coolly.  
  
"The reception is for the criminal Washu, Ambassador, and I'll thank you to keep your opinions of my decisions to yourself while you are on my ship, however briefly."   
  
Tenchi was surprised at the venom of his words. Although many in the Jurai military considered Tenchi only marginally a Juraian, and disapproved of his wife, most of the other officers he had met in his term as ambassador had been very polite to him. Tomokon, however seemed to delight in sniping at him.  
  
"Of course, Commander," Tenchi said conciliatorily "I recognize your right to run your ship as you see fit. I am grateful that you took the time to meet with me."  
  
"Very well, Ambassador, this way." Tomokon turned and led the way out of the room.   
  
The group traveled down some corridors and entered into a lavish conference room. Tomokon motioned to some chairs and seated himself first at the head of the table.  
  
"What is this all about? We received a request from Galaxy Police for information from our intelligence sweeps and we have already replied that we found nothing unusual."  
  
"Since you were most certainly surveiling the ambassador's wife, didn't you think it unusual when she vanished?" Kiyone challenged.  
  
Tomokon scowled. "Naturally, but since our purpose was only to observe, we took no action. Our review of the data showed no trace of where she went or how."  
  
"I don't suppose we could view the data." Tenchi inquired.  
  
"Absolutely not," Tomokon shook his head. "Our collection methods must not be compromised. Even if you went to the Empress, I would have the Supreme Military Council intercede to prevent this. I'm sorry, you just have to trust us when we say we know nothing more than you."  
  
Tomokon smiled. He looked a bit like a fat cat watching a canary. Washu cleared her voice.  
  
"Ah, commander, we have filtered our own data and we found some interesting readings." Washu slid a data crystal across the table. Tomokon didn't even look at it. Washu continued. "Perhaps if you cross reference it with your data, you might find something you missed."  
  
Tomokon glared at Washu with evident hatred. After a few seconds he answered.  
  
"It would be unlikely."  
  
"Humor us, Commander," Tenchi said placidly. "Surely not even the Supreme Council would object to getting their hands on any of Professor Washu's research."  
  
Tomokon knew he was boxed in and he didn't like it. He swiped up the crystal and stood.  
  
"Fine! Stay here, this won't take long."  
  
He left the room.  
  
  
  
In the empty docking area where Yagami's landing tube had been, the air shimmered and Ryeka and Ryo-ohki materialized, holding hands.  
  
"Good job, Ryeka, now go back to the ship."  
  
"No," Ryeka said stubbornly. "You may need me. I'm not a defenseless little girl, I can help you."  
  
Ryo-ohki knew what it was like to want to prove one's worth, so she relented. Besides, Ryeka had a point. She could teleport and Ryo-ohki couldn't.   
  
"Alright, but stay behind me."   
  
Ryo-ohki and Ryeka peeked out the door. The corridor was empty in both directions. Ryo-ohki stepped back and closed her eyes. Ryeka watched as Ryo-ohki's fur slowly changed color. It was growing shorter and turning to a light peach color. As the color changed, the hairs began to thin and lay down. The hair on Ryo-ohki's head turned darker, almost black. Her black scarves expanded and seemed to ooze out over the surface of her skin, forming the high-necked blouse of a Juraian military uniform. The fur on her legs seemed to flatten and merge, forming trousers. The ankle length cloth boots stretched up and took on a slight sheen, mimicking polished military boots. Ryo-ohki opened her eyes and breathed slightly heavily from the concentration. At first glance from a distance, she would pass as human or Juraian, but anyone who got within five or six feet would probably notice the fur.   
  
"Wow," Ryeka breathed, "I wish I could do that."  
  
Ryo-ohki flashed her fangs in a smile. "Yeah, it's great at parties, now come on."  
  
The two went out into the hallway, and began walking. Ryo-ohki had no idea whether or not there were other children on board, but it was possible. Juraian ships occasionally transported diplomats and their families. Fortunately, Ryeka happened to be wearing one Sasami's old outfits that day and would pass for a diplomat's child. They were a little out of vogue but, hopefully, it would defray suspicion long enough. Ryo-ohki had memorized a schematic of Senzo that Washu had hacked from the Juraian central computer. Ryo-ohki knew her way around Juraian warships well enough, but each was hand crafted by masters, so each was subtly different. It was guessed that any prisoners would be held aft, in a converted cargo space.   
  
"Do you think we'll find Mommy there?" Ryeka asked.  
  
"I don't know. Washu scanned as far as she could on Earth and the Solar System, and this ship was the only one that returned a similar reading to the crystal we found. But, this ship is heavily shielded, it could have been an anomalous reading of the ship's Juraian tree core."   
  
Ryo-ohki didn't want to get Ryeka's hopes up. Ryeka was a sweet kid, and Ryo-ohki was going to hate dropping the bomb that they wouldn't be taking Ryoko with them even if they did find her.  
  
  
  
In Senzo's Combat Information Center, Tomokon poured over the contents of the data Washu had given him. He had decided it would be necessary to let the little group on board, and the scene with Ayeka had only lent the charade authenticity. He hadn't counted on Washu giving him a disc that would probably tell him everything he wanted to know about their abilities. Was this the act of the greatest scientific genius in the Universe?  
  
Tomokon's computer specialist put the data into the computer and ran a simulation.  
  
"There is a 3 percent chance they were able to detect the prisoner based on this data, Sir." the technician provided.  
  
"Hmmmm," Tomokon thought. "Do a complete search of the surrounding space and Earth using the parameter's that Professor Washu provided."  
  
"Sir?" the technician was confused. "What are we searching for?"  
  
Tomokon glared at the tech. "Nothing, you imbecile. Washu wants us to scan for Ryoko, so we'll scan. It will make them doubt their conclusions."  
  
He left to return to the conference room. He dismissed the guards so that he would appear conciliatory, like a snake that smiles just before it strikes. But, who was the snake, he wondered, and who was the mouse? Washu really was a genius and she was the most dangerous opponent of the lot. The Ambassador, for all his fantastic power, was an Earthling, and given to sentiment. All available intelligence on him indicated that he would be slow to act, preferring to try to talk his way through situations. Plus, he was only forty or so Earth years old, and Tomokon doubted that he had even come close to mastering the fantastic Jurai power that it took Juraian monarchs centuries to be able to control.   
  
But, Washu ... there was a dangerous animal, always plotting, always conniving. If she wanted him to know she could find Ryoko, then she wanted him to know she had already found Ryoko.  
  
  
  
"I wanted him to know that I had already found Ryoko." Washu was explaining to Tenchi while they waited for Tomokon to return.  
  
"Doesn't that give away an edge?" Tenchi asked, gravely. Kiyone raised an eyebrow and waited for Washu's response.  
  
"Tomokon is an idiot," Washu whispered conspiratorially. "No way he came up with the crystal and the plan to capture Ryoko on his own. Someone is running him. I want to disrupt his plans, to force him to call for instructions. I set the sensors in my lab to record all emissions from Senzo as soon as I pinpointed Ryoko. If he calls out, we should be able to trace the transmission and find out who is really in charge."  
  
"I see," Tenchi said.   
  
Just then Tomokon entered.  
  
"I have passed your data to my computer technicians and asked them to scan our recorded data, as well as to use Senzo's superior sensors to re-scan this area of space. It will take some time, but if we find anything, we'll let you know."  
  
Tenchi and the others stood. "Thank you, Commander, that is most gracious of you."  
  
"If you'll follow me, I escort you back to the docking bay." Tomokon led the way out and back to the docking bay where Kiyone signaled Mihoshi to bring Yagami back along side to extend the docking tube. Once they were gone, Tomokon stood, frowning, not leaving the area.  
  
Why had Washu wanted him to know she had found Ryoko? It would focus Tomokon's attention on Washu as the greatest threat. Why did Washu want to draw attention to herself? She had worked in secrecy for centuries. Unless ... she was trying to deflect attention from someone else!  
  
Tomokon started. That was it! He keyed the communications panel on the wall.  
  
"Security, this is Tomokon. We have intruders on board. Find them and apprehend them." 


	8. See how they run

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 8: See how they run  
R & R run amok on Senzo  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 8  
  
Ryo-ohki and Ryeka crept along a service corridor in the lower levels of Senzo. There were few crewmen back near the massive space engines. Juraians were a pampered lot, and they preferred to frequent the gardens and the hot baths instead of the dirty, chilly bowels of the ship.  
  
"But, this is where we'll find Ryoko if she is here," Ryo-ohki whispered to Ryeka.   
  
They turned a corner and were presented with a short corridor with twelve reinforced doorways. It was the cargo hold area that Washu had suggested they check. Ryeka and Ryo-ohki began to search the holds. Ryeka walked up to the first cell and paused then, carefully, she leaned forward, letting her head phase through the wall. After a second, she pulled it back.   
  
"Nothing."  
  
Ryo-ohki did the same to the cell on her side. Phase shifting was one skill that Ryoko, Ryo-ohki and Ryeka all had in common.  
  
"Nothing here either," Ryo-ohki reported. "Try the next one."  
  
Again, neither had any luck. But, on the third door, instead of passing through the door, Ryeka's head smacked up against it with a loud crack. She sat down heavily, holding her head, tears squeezing through her clinched eyes.  
  
"Oww, ow, oohhhhhh, that hurt."  
  
Ryo-ohki bent down to check if there was any blood.  
  
"You're fine. And, I think you found something."  
  
Ryo-ohki stood up and examined the cell door. There was a control panel on the right hand side. She pressed few buttons and the door slid open.  
  
Ryeka opened her eyes and peered into the room. It was a spacious cargo hold, dimly lit and shadowy. Suspended in the air by two long chains against the back wall was something that looked like a giant crystal. Visible inside the crystal was the shape of a woman.  
  
"Mommy!" Ryeka cried, dashing into the room.  
  
"Wait, hold on," Ryo-ohki clutched after her, but missed. She followed Ryeka into the makeshift cell.  
  
"Mommy! Mommy, wake up!" Ryeka was pounding on the bottom of the crystal. Inside, Ryoko's eyes opened slowly, then wide. Her mouth was moving, but no words could be heard. Ryo-ohki caught up to Ryeka and pulled her away slightly.  
  
"We have to get her down, we have to get her out!" Tears were streaming from Ryeka's eyes.   
  
"I know, Ryeka, just calm down, getting upset won't do any good." Ryo-ohki held Ryeka and looked up at Ryoko.  
  
Ryeka twisted free. She raised her hands towards the crystal and screamed. A bright orange ball of energy leaped from her hands and blasted into the crystal. Ryo-ohki raised her arms to protect her eyes from the blast, but the blast never came.  
  
"Huh?" Ryeka wavered, then blasted again, and again.   
  
Each time, the ball of energy simply splashed against the crystal and dissipated into it. Ryeka panted for breath and leaned forward, hands against the crystal. It glowed slightly where she touched it.  
  
Ryoko's features were hard to distinguish inside the giant stone that seemed to distort and bend the light. Her eyes kept moving up and back as if...  
  
Ryo-ohki spun around suddenly.   
  
"Well, well, if it isn't the demon Ryo-ohki," Commander Tomokon sneered.  
  
  
  
"What do you mean Ryeka's with Ryo-ohki on the Senzo?" Tenchi demanded.  
  
"She never teleported back," Kaji replied.   
  
"Right after she left you and we disconnected, she teleported Ryo-ohki over, all according to plan," Noboyuki explained. "But she never returned."  
  
"I am certain she refused," Washu surmised. "She probably convinced Ryo-ohki to take her with her. And short of transforming into a spaceship, Ryo-ohki would have had no way of forcing her to return."  
  
Tenchi grabbed Washu's shoulder and steered her over to the computer console. "Washu, find her. Kaji, if you're here, who is flying?"  
  
Kaji looked a little sheepish. "Well, ah, Mihoshi wanted to remember what it was like so..."  
  
"You let Mihoshi fly my ship, Detective?" Kiyone shouted.  
  
"Actually," Tenchi interceded, "that is the first piece of good news I have heard."  
  
He keyed the communications console. "Mihoshi, turn around and start flying along side the Senzo. And, Mihoshi, I want you to get as close as you can."  
  
Kiyone paled. "I just had this ship painted."  
  
  
  
Tomokon was surrounded by dozens of soldiers with weapons. Several were wearing tanks and had spray nozzles instead of rifles. Ryo-ohki crouched backwards and put her arm on Ryeka's shoulder.  
  
"Teleport us out of here, now," she hissed at Ryeka.  
  
Ryeka closed her eyes and visualized the landing dock.   
  
Tomokon waited patiently. A nervous soldier wiped his nose.  
  
"Ryeka, what are you waiting for?" Ryo-ohki gave her shoulder a little shake.  
  
"I can't do it!" Ryeka said, starting to feel a little panic. "Something is preventing me from dematerializing."  
  
"Yes," Tomokon spoke up. "We have a dampening field in the walls of this hold. You can't float through the walls or teleport out of here." He chuckled.  
  
"Well, then, we'll do it the fun way," Ryo-ohki leaped up and straight towards Tomokon. Her disguise melted away in mid-flight. Her fur darkened and took on Jurai battle stripes, her claws extended. Tomokon fell over himself backing away. The soldiers with the tanks swiveled towards her.  
  
"Ryeka, blast those tanks!" Ryo-ohki howled as she landed in the midst of the soldiers and started to slash.  
  
Ryeka came out of her stupor. The soldiers with the tanks froze for a split-second, their training telling them incorrectly that Ryo-ohki was the more dangerous opponent. Orange balls of energy shattered the tanks, causing the gel within to spray in all directions, turning to crystal in the blast of Ryeka's power.  
  
Several soldiers had to raise their eyes to protect against the flying crystal shards. Ryo-ohki kicked and slashed her way over to the door.   
  
"Ryeka, teleport over here to the door!"  
  
Ryeka winked over to the door. "My power works inside, I just can't get outside."  
  
Ryo-ohki punched the console. The door slid open.   
  
"These idiots spent so much time blocking Ryoko's power, they never added physical security to the door codes."   
  
Ryo-ohki dragged Ryeka through the door and down the hallway.  
  
  
  
On cue, the first screech of metal on metal reverberated through the ship. Mihoshi's whine echoed down from the cockpit.  
  
"Oh no, oh my. Sorry! Oops not again, oh dear."  
  
Predictably, in her attempt to fly close to Senzo, Mihoshi was leaving skid marks of Yagami's new paint on the battleship's hull.  
  
"Washu, find her, now." Tenchi turned back to Washu.  
  
"I'm on it, Tenchi," Washu's fingers flew over the keyboard.  
  
"Kaji," Tenchi turned, "are there any communications from the Senzo?"  
  
"None, Ambassador."  
  
Tenchi frowned. "They should be screaming about Yagami scratching their paint. Unless ... unless they are preoccupied."  
  
"You mean like by a nine year old half demon child blasting her way through their ship?" Washu asked.  
  
"You found her?" Tenchi rushed over.  
  
"Heading forward from the stern, about to reach the main arboretum."  
  
"Mihoshi," Tenchi called into communications, "stop here and extend the docking tube."  
  
"B-b-but there's no port hole!" Mihoshi sounded terribly stressed.   
  
"Make one."  
  
Tenchi nodded for Noboyuki and Kaji to join Mihoshi in the cockpit. Then, stormed down the docking tube and Washu ran after him. Kiyone grabbed a blaster from a nearby locker.   
  
The docking ramp had smashed through the wood outer hull of the Senzo and into a crewman's quarters. A slight hiss of escaping air was already fading as the Senzo automatically sealed the breach.   
  
"Kiyone, stay here and guard the ramp."  
  
Tenchi and Washu exited the quarters and turned out of sight down the corridor. Kiyone stayed behind, left eye twitching. She played with her blaster rifle absently.  
  
"A fresh paint job," she muttered. "Two years of piece and quiet, three years salary repairing Yagami, gone. All gone."  
  
  
  
Ryo-ohki laid out the guard with a wild left handed haymaker. She was getting tired and she was starting to use more force than technique, and that was making her more tired. She ran on. Ryeka ran beside her. They burst into the Arboretum, startling a couple of Juraian crewman who were taking a break from work for a romantic encounter.  
  
"Get back to your posts." Ryo-ohki snapped. The two ran off.  
  
"Aunt Ryo-ohki, we have to stop for a minute. I'm tired." Ryeka was bent over hands on her knees gasping for breath.  
  
"Can you teleport us to Yagami?"  
  
Ryeka shook her head. "We are to far, I can't really feel it. I just not as good at is as mom." She hesitated. "I didn't want to tell you, but I can't actually believe I teleported you from the Yagami to the docking station. I've never done anything that powerful before."  
  
Ryo-ohki went to her and hugged her tightly, kissing her on her head. "You laid some pretty strong medicine on them back in the cell. You're doing great."  
  
"Hold it right there!" Several guards appeared on a balcony above and behind them.  
  
Ryo-ohki spun just in time to see a shower of gel rain down. In a blur she grabbed Ryeka and rolled out of the way. Ryeka rolled up to her feet and let off an energy ball that bisected the balcony. The Juraians were thrown off their feet as they slid down the now tilting catwalk to the ground level. Twenty or so more soldiers appeared from the other side of the Arboretum and were briskly making their way over. Tomokon was leading them.  
  
"Shoot the animal, capture the girl," he ordered, deadpan.  
  
The Juraians raise their blasters and fired. Ryeka screamed and Ryo-ohki turned to shield her from the oncoming fire. It never arrived. When Ryeka looked up, Lord Tenchi stood between her and the soldiers, Lighthawk Wings extended to shield them from the fire.   
  
"Good work Tenchi," Washu was there, off to the side, fingers over the keyboard of her trans-dimensional console. "Now, let me contact Yagami to come get us. Aaahhhh."  
  
A battle lance ripped through her side and glanced off her ribs. The force of the throw knocked her down. There were soldiers coming from behind her, weapons raised.  
  
"No!" Tenchi dashed over and again raised the Lighthawk Wings. Just as he did so, a Juraian soldier stepped out from behind a pillar and sprayed gel towards Tenchi and Washu. The Lighthawk wings deflected the gel from reaching them, but the gel turned to crystal on contact. As the soldier continued to spray, the crystal spread out over the wings, cascading down behind Tenchi forming a sphere, sealing Tenchi and Washu inside.   
  
"Daddy!" Ryeka screamed, reaching out. Ryo-ohki held her back.  
  
Too late, Tenchi stopped the wings and pounded on the inside of the shell. Then he formed the Lighthawk sword and slashed at it, to no avail. Tomokon walked up deliberately and kicked the crystal. It wobbled and fell over, sweeping Tenchi and Washu off their feet inside.  
  
"And, now for the brat and her pet." Tomokon turned towards Ryo-ohki and Ryeka.  
  
"I think not." Ryo-ohki hissed, hoisted Ryeka and leaped into the air, folding and turning as she went.   
  
Her body seemed to turn inside out as it grew, long wings and spines spreading in all directions. Ryeka was swallowed up inside as Ryo-ohki transformed into her first, greatest form, Washu's second-generation Juraian battleship. Howling, she burst up through the ceiling of the Arboretum, causing a tremendous explosive decompression as the air, glass and debris ripped into space. Immediately, though, the living Jurai battleship extending itself over the breach, long branches and vines growing at a fantastic rate to seal itself.   
  
Ryo-ohki called Yagami to retract the docking tube and get away. The two ships sped down from orbit away from Senzo.  
  
  
  
Shaken by the sudden changes in pressure, but otherwise unharmed, Tomokon picked himself up and regarded his new prisoners. Tenchi was still pounding against the crystal and seemed to be shouting something at Tomokon. Washu was simply sitting and scowling out from the shell, hand pressed against the slight wound in her side.  
  
"Hang them up with my other little prize in the hold." Tomokon turned and headed for the bridge. "Then clean up this mess." 


	9. Identify, Friend or Foe

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 9: Identify, Friend or Foe  
Seeds of distrust bear fruit  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 9  
  
"You left her!" Ryeka screamed at Ryoko. "You left them all!"  
  
Ryo-ohki tried hard not to argue back. She wanted to tell Ryeka she was wrong, tell her that she wanted to help them, but couldn't. But Ryo-ohki knew that you couldn't reason with a child who is that far-gone to hysteria. Ryeka was sobbing in the corner of the living room, huddled on the floor. She had come apart as soon as they landed. Screaming and crying, she refused all attempts to console her.   
  
"Your father would have wanted you to be safe, honey," Kiyone tried to explain. She was kneeling beside Ryeka trying to talk her down. "He went back to try to save you."  
  
Instead of consoling Ryeka, this only made her wail louder.  
  
"And I left him," she sobbed. "He came for me and I left him there."  
  
She pounded the floor with her fist. The wood splintered slightly. Kiyone suddenly, firmly grasped her wrist and put a hand under her chin. She steadied Ryeka's bleary, tear filled eyes on her own.  
  
"And we will back go for him. I swear."  
  
For a moment Ryeka stopped sobbing. She held Kiyone's gaze, then collapsed into her arms still crying, but softer, clearly exhausted. Kiyone scooped her up and carried her upstairs. Noboyuki and Mihoshi went into the kitchen and turned on the radio.   
  
Kaji was left alone to stare thoughtfully at Ryo-ohki.  
  
"What?" Ryo-ohki asked sullenly.  
  
"It is disappointing that we weren't able to bring Ryoko out, or the others." Kaji offered.  
  
"Yeah, sure. Try to sound neutral, but you really want to know why I didn't or why I couldn't."  
  
Kaji shrugged. "You certainly seem powerful enough. You could have transformed in the hold with Ryoko, the way you did with Ryeka, and made your escape. You certainly seemed to have all the answers needed to find her. Unfortunately, we only seem to have delivered Tenchi and Washu into their grasp. It was almost as if they planned it that way."  
  
"What are you implying?" Ryo-ohki snapped.  
  
"I have to ask you this, however distasteful. It is unlikely that Tomokon is the prime mover in this. He must have some master running him. Is it Ayeka?"  
  
Ryo-ohki glowered at him. She seethed and seemed unable to speak. Kaji continued.  
  
"You are too intelligent not to have considered that we would ask this question."  
  
"True," Ryo-ohki allowed, through clenched teeth, "but that doesn't make it any less ugly."  
  
"Forgive me for prying, but I have to confess. Galaxy Police information is a little weak on the reasons for your loyalty to the Empress. After all, you served Ryoko for centuries as her partner in crime, then here on Earth, by all accounts sent to us by Mihoshi and the Commissioner, you seemed more attached to Lady Sasami. Didn't the Empress treat you with the same disdain as she reserved for Ryoko?"  
  
Ryo-ohki suddenly seemed less enthusiastic about talking to Kaji, as if she felt vulnerable about the direction the conversation was going.   
  
"First, I am not the same Ryo-ohki that committed all those acts of destruction with Ryoko. I was reborn after the destruction of the first Ryo-ohki when it collided with Ryou-o. I have no memory of the life I had before, only of spending my first years in the loving warmth of the Masaki household. It is only due to my telepathic link with Ryoko that I have any inkling of the life I had before, and I prefer to forget about that."  
  
"Forgive me, I didn't mean to pry."  
  
"Sure you did," Ryo-ohki went on. "As for loyalty to Ryoko and Sasami, well..."  
  
Ryo-ohki seemed to have trouble finding the words. "Early on, I believed that I was supposed to obey Ryoko. The telepathic link, the way she was so firm when ordering me around, it just seemed like that was the way it was supposed to be. After my union with the Masses transformed me, I began to see things differently. Especially with Sasami treating me like a little sister, I started feeling more independent. After the Bugrom war, I just felt like being my own person."  
  
"Was it then when Ryoko abandoned you to marry Ambassador Masaki? Our records indicate that you always had a crush on Tenchi yourself. Or was it after Lady Sasami went of into obscurity a few years later, but with Yugi instead of you?" Kaji's questioning was rude, but it was direct. Ryo-ohki scowled in response. She stood up.  
  
"I am not ashamed to admit that I felt abandoned. And I wasn't ashamed to accept a helping hand when Her Highness offered me a place in her life. She fed me, educated me and gave me the thing I value most, after her trust: my independence."  
  
Kaji tilted his head. "Hmmm. Perhaps she felt abandoned as well and saw it as a chance to strike back at the two people who hurt her most by taking something she perceived as theirs?"  
  
Ryo-ohki snarled and grasped Kaji by the shirt, hauling him off of the sofa and up close to her bared fangs.  
  
"You would have to ask Her Highness what her motivations were, but I wouldn't recommend that you use that attitude around her in my presence. In the fifteen years I have served her she has never once said anything against Tenchi, Sasami or Ryoko! I suggest you update GP records with THAT information!"  
  
"Why be so loyal too her," Kaji asked, calmly ignoring his peril. "So she gave you a hand out, does that mean you owe her this much loyalty?"  
  
She shoved him violently back into the sofa and snarled at him. "I love her, okay? I'd do anything for her!"  
  
Just then Mihoshi gasped and came running in from the kitchen. She clawed at the TV remote. After a moment of frantic button pushing, she had the sound up.   
  
"... And in response to this unprovoked attack by Earth separatist forces, Jurai has no choice but to impose martial law in this sector." Commander Tomokon was broadcasting from his battle ship. "We have learned that the target of these terrorist attacks was the Juraian ambassador and his family. The terrorists are using a surplus Galaxy Police cruiser. We are moving to protect the ambassador and capture the terrorists.  
  
Tomokon leaned into the picture. "Earth defense forces are strongly advised to stay out of our way. We are determined to protect our people."   
  
The picture changed back to the news announcer who went on to say that the Earth government was prepared to cooperate with the Jurai Military to put down the separatist attacks. Ryo-ohki smacked the remote and shut the television off.  
  
"Well, there goes the 'going to the authorities' option."  
  
"We could explain it," Noboyuki spoke up. "Tomokon's lies are transparent, they would never hold up."  
  
Kaji shook his head. "She is right. We would be scooped up as soon as we tried to contact the police. If Tomokon is willing to attack Ryoko and Tenchi, he wouldn't stop short of destroying a few Earthlings."  
  
"They're probably on their way here now. We have to leave." Ryo-ohki went upstairs to find Kiyone and Ryeka. They were in the master bedroom.  
  
"Kiyone," Ryo-ohki said. Ryeka turned her head and wouldn't look at her. "Kiyone, we must leave."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere." Ryeka said quietly. "I've run away too much already."  
  
"Tomokon is pulling a spin job on the Earth authorities. He has them hoodwinked into thinking that we are terrorists. He's on his way here right now to get us."  
  
Kiyone nodded and placed her hand on Ryeka. "We have to leave. Please, you will have to come with me until we can mount an operation to rescue your mother and father. No, don't argue. I know how you feel, but now is not the time for useless heroics. We have to get away."  
  
Ryo-ohki nodded. "Take everyone back to Galaxy Police Headquarters with you on Yagami. Tomokon's ruse will prevent him from attacking the Galaxy Police directly. I must return and report to Ayeka."  
  
Kiyone turned her head slightly. "And what will you report? Success or failure?"  
  
"Et tu, Kiyone?" Ryo-ohki asked, morosely. "If Tomokon has even two or three other commanders under his influence, which is likely, this could turn into a political nightmare for Ayeka, it may even be the beginning of a coup. I must get back to help her. I don't need to tell you that as she is the Empress of Jurai. She is pretty much your only chance for winning against renegade elements of the Jurai military."  
  
"Okay. I trust you, Ryo-ohki, and," Kiyone pursed her lips, "I believe in Ayeka, too. We'll return to GPHQ; contact us there."  
  
It was a glum group that shuffled from the dock onto Yagami, down at the lake. Ryo-ohki stood on the shore and watched. Suddenly, Ryeka came running up the dock and threw herself into Ryo-ohki's arms.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blame you. I was upset. I love you, and I need you, Aunt Ryo-ohki."  
  
A tear welled up in Ryo-ohki's eyes. "I love you too, Ryeka. Hey, c'mon, cheer up. We destroyed half a Jurai battleship together."  
  
Ryo-ohki knelt down and ruffled Ryeka's cyan hair until it was wild and full of life. "Your mother would approve of that, I know. We make a good team, and when we meet again, we'll free your parents and leave swath of destruction in our wake. You are part space pirate, you know."  
  
Ryeka squeezed Ryo-ohki tightly and then dashed onto Yagami. Ryo-ohki watched as Yagami's engines flared to life and blasted off from the surface of the lake. Ryo-ohki's smile faded with the receding glow of Yagami. She then leaped into the air, transformed and blasted off into space as well.  
  
  
  
"Sir, Ryo-ohki and Yagami have left Earth orbit," the sensor officer reported.  
  
"Very well." Tomokon turned to his executive officer. "What is the status of our fleet?"  
  
The XO punched up some data on a console. "We have twenty three ships. Most are smaller vessels, patrol ships, auxiliary ships, that kind. But we can count on two capital ships, Toi Shima and Ke Ghare, both heavy cruisers. In addition to that, there are four or five frigate class ships as well."  
  
"What of their crews?" Tomokon asked.  
  
"The commanders have relieved any officers whose loyalties are in doubt. Most of the lower ranks can be counted on to simply follow orders. Our work for the last two years is coming to fruition. We have been able to carefully select the senior crews of most of these ships and fill them with those who share our views."  
  
"Excellent. Have them rendezvous here at Earth. We must make the enemy come to us. If our forces are too spread out, the Jurai Supreme council may catch wind of what is really going on. I'll be in my chambers. Do not disturb me."  
  
Tomokon left the bridge and walked a short way down the corridor to his personal stateroom. There, he opened the communications console and initiated a transmission.  
  
"Yes?" the woman's voice echoed in his mind.   
  
"The ruse was successful. Ryo-ohki provided delicious bait with the child. Ambassador Masaki invaded our ship to rescue her, and ended up our captive instead. As a bonus, we captured Washu in the same operation."  
  
"Wasshuuuu," the voice hissed. Even with the unusual communications medium, the loathing was evident. "Perfect. This simplifies things."  
  
"I thought so, Milady," Tomokon was clearly please with himself.  
  
"Silence! This gain offsets my displeasure with your incompetence only slightly. You still have yet to provide me with an estimate of the arrival of Tsunami!"  
  
Tomokon cowered, "Apologies most humble, Milady, but, with the Ambassador, Ryoko and Washu all being held captive, the others are too weak to oppose us. The will have to seek out Tsunami's aid before they return. It is only a matter of time."  
  
"I have all the time in the universe, Commander," the voiced hissed. "You do not! Be productive or be replaced!"  
  
The console snapped off. Tomokon exhaled with relief. He wasn't worried though. Everything had been going exactly as he had planned. Tsunami would show up on cue and then he would gain his reward.   
  
Feeling the need to gloat, Tomokon decided to visit his captives.  
  
  
  
"Don't take it so hard, Tenchi. It was a damned good trap. And, at least Ryeka is safe." Washu was reclined against the curved wall of the crystal sphere that held them. Her wound had rapidly healed and she was back to being her nonchalant self. "Hey, I spent three thousand years in a crystal just like this. It's not so bad after the first two or three centuries.  
  
Tenchi was staring at the other crystal hanging nearby. He could see his wife inside. Her face was hidden and she didn't seem to know he was there. It made him mad that she was held so cruelly, like an animal.  
  
"We don't know that Ryeka is safe, we only saw Ryo-ohki take her away. They could have been attacked or captured afterwards."  
  
"Uh-uh," Washu shook her head. "Never happen. Ryo-ohki is too fast and too strong. I am sure of it, Lord Tenchi, Ryeka is fine."  
  
Tenchi turned from the wall and sat down opposite Washu.   
  
"Thank you for that, Little Washu. Now, how can we get out of here? Surely you can do something?" He knocked against the crystal.  
  
"Nope, and don't call me Shirley." Washu cracked herself up. "Face it, my boy. We are spectators in this one. Ug, don't look now, but we have company."  
  
Tenchi looked over his shoulder and saw that Tomokon was crossing to their prison. He attached some sort of device to the outside. Suddenly, Tenchi could hear him.  
  
"Good evening, Ambassador. Welcome back to Senzo. I told you that you should have gone through channels. Tsk tsk, my what a mess you are in now, hmmm?"  
  
"Commander Tomokon, surely you didn't expect me to stand by let you hurt my daughter, now did you?"  
  
"No, I guess not, and don't call me Shirley! Ha ha ha!"  
  
Washu rolled her eyes.  
  
"Listen here, brainiac," she yawned. "I'll admit you pulled off a clever little plan, though not entirely unpredictable. However, I am fairly stumped at your motivation. The only thing I can see that you have to gain is a prison sentence when word of this gets back to Jurai."  
  
Tomokon was pleased to have a receptive audience. "Oh, don't worry about me, I will be fairly compensated. My Lady has a special interest in you, Professor."  
  
"Little old me? Who would be interested in me?" Washu scratched her head. "Except maybe every jealous scientist in the Universe! Ah-ha-ha-ha! Ah, but seriously, Tomo you old goat, what's the real plan? C'mon, now's the part where you tell us all your great designs."  
  
"Well, not quite yet," Tomokon deferred. "My little collection here isn't yet complete. You are really just the bait."  
  
"Who's the fish?" Tenchi asked.  
  
Tomokon shrugged. "What harm is there in telling you? It's Tsunami."  
  
Washu sat up. She had a bad feeling all of the sudden, like there was something she wasn't quit remembering. Something about her and Tsunami, like a memory from long ago.  
  
"You're crazy. I can understand how you were able to catch us with a little planning and some goo," Tenchi scoffed. "But Tsunami is practically a god."  
  
"Yes, well, it takes a thief to catch a thief, after all," Tomokon hinted. He was very pleased with his own cleverness. He had concocted that little phrase to drop at just the right moment, and Tenchi had provided the moment perfectly. "Now, forgive me, I must have a word with your wife."  
  
He made to remove the sonic transducer. Tenchi stopped him.  
  
"Commander!"  
  
Tomokon paused. "Yes? What is it?"  
  
Tenchi lowered his eyes.   
  
"You have won, at least this far. It is also clear that you plot our eventual destruction. Allow us just a little comfort. Let me speak to Ryoko."  
  
Tomokon considered. He felt it was important to deny his prisoners everything they desired, however, he mustn't seem petty.  
  
"Out of the question, I'm afraid. However, I will turn her crystal so you can see each other. Not for your comfort of course. She still seems to think you'll come to save her. I want her to see that you have already failed."  
  
Tomokon removed the transducer and moved to a nearby control panel. Moments later, Ryoko's crystal spun around. At first her eyes stayed closed. She looked terrible, exhausted and depleted. Her eyes opened just a bit, then widely. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Tenchi leaped up and pressed himself against that side of his own crystal.  
  
Tears streamed from both his and Ryoko's eyes.  
  
"I love you," Ryoko mouthed. She was only ten feet away, but it may as well have been a thousand miles.   
  
Tomokon watched with great satisfaction. He stepped in front of Ryoko. Lazily he swung the transducer, as if deciding whether or not to talk to her. Then, he smiled evilly and walked away, leaving Tenchi and Ryoko trying to communicate across their gulf.   
  
Washu was silent, straining to remember. It takes a thief to catch a thief. What did that mean? 


	10. The Blood Thickens

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 10: The Blood Thickens  
Ayeka rolls with the punches and gets to what's real  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
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Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 10  
  
Ryo-ohki stalked up the dim hallways of the Jurai royal palace. She was troubled slightly by the developments. She didn't mind that Ryoko was captured. Which isn't to say that Ryo-ohki didn't care about Ryoko, she did. They had shared a deep bond of love and friendship. They had even had a tearful argument the night when Ryo-ohki left to discover herself, like a teenage daughter leaving home for the first time. However, Ryo-ohki knew that Ryoko was extremely resilient, and Ryo-ohki suspected that the crystal that held her probably protected her as well. Ryoko wasn't in immediate danger.  
  
Tenchi on the other hand was a different story. Ryo-ohki had eventually planned to use Tenchi's power in whatever final assault was needed to recover Ryoko, after they had discovered all of the conspirators. Tenchi's capture was definitely not planned, and Ryo-ohki wondered how long Tenchi could survive in the crystal shell. Despite his great command of the Jurai power, Tenchi was still a frail human, vulnerable and weak, relatively speaking.   
  
What troubled her most of all was that after her escape with Ryeka, as she thought more about it, she realized that Tenchi's capture had been orchestrated. The soldiers hadn't put up that much of a struggle. Moreover, they had actually herded them in Tenchi's direction. Tomokon had wanted Tenchi all along. Or maybe it was Washu he had been after?  
  
Ryo-ohki shook her head. She had once heard that intelligence was often like one of those four wheel drive vehicles that were so popular on Earth. The better it was, the better it was at getting you stuck in intractable situations.  
  
Ryo-ohki arrived outside Ayeka's offices, where the Empress conducted her day-to-day activities. She went through and up the long, open courtroom to the other side. There, she opened a side door and walked down a short corridor to another door where Asaka and Kamadake stood guard. They bowed.  
  
"Welcome back, Lady Ryo-ohki," Asaka greeted her. "Was your mission successful?"  
  
"Not entirely, valiant knights," she stopped. "Your long rest is over. One at a time, go prepare what you need for an indefinite period of travel. We may be going somewhere."  
  
Kamadake smiled and pulled back his robes slightly. Hidden discretely beneath them was a modest travel sack.  
  
"When we heard you were returning, the Empress bade us to get ready. We need no further preparation, we are standing by to serve however, wherever we are called."  
  
Ryo-ohki grinned. She instantly felt better. Of course Ayeka would have everything under control. Ayeka always had everything under control. Ryo-ohki knocked once and phased through the door. Ayeka was seated at her desk reading from the console. Ryo-ohki walked around and knelt down beside her, placing a hand on Ayeka's arm and leaning her head against Ayeka's shoulder.  
  
"Empress."  
  
Ayeka smiled down at Ryo-ohki and embraced her, kissing her forehead in greeting.   
  
"Welcome home, Ryo-ohki. You certainly have a warped personal view of my instructions not to antagonize the military."  
  
Ryo-ohki looked sheepish. "It was not entirely my doing. Ryeka takes after mother when it comes to destroying Juraian battleships."  
  
"And that was when they took Tenchi?"  
  
Ryo-ohki couldn't meet Ayeka's eye. She just nodded. Ayeka stroked Ryo-ohki's long soft hair.   
  
"It's not your fault, my friend. We are up against a very cagey opponent. We make our moves and they make theirs. The just managed to outplay us by one move, this time."  
  
Ayeka stood. "Still, it is time I took a more active role. I spoke to the Jurai military council. Some there are reluctant to believe right away that Tomokon has gone rogue, distinguished career and all that. They are starting an investigation, but that could take weeks. We don't have that long."  
  
Ryo-ohki stood and walked over to a sofa. She slouched onto it. "Galaxy Police is unlikely to intervene in our internal matters, however, I am sure that Kiyone and probably Kaji will help in any way they can. And, you have me."  
  
Ayeka nodded and paced slowly around the desk. "My own private investigation reveals that a number of Juraian ships are discretely moving towards Earth. I wonder if even you, I and Yagami could stand against them."  
  
Ryo-ohki judged the time was right. "Then, perhaps it's is time to get some help."  
  
Ayeka stopped. "It has occurred to you where the pattern is leading? First Ryoko, then Tenchi. I may be a target, but certainly, any Juraian military commander who seeks a rebellion knows that eventually he will have to face Tsunami. They must have planned for that."  
  
Ryo-ohki stood. "Capturing Ryoko and Tenchi, while impressive, is nothing like trying to capture Tsunami. I can't believe they could make enough gel to capture her, or if it would even work against her."  
  
Ayeka wasn't so sure. Still, there didn't seem to be much choice.   
  
"Very well. Let us leave tomorrow."  
  
"You know where to find Tsunami?" Ryo-ohki probed.  
  
"Yes, always. She is my sister, after all. She regularly stays in contact with me, even if you don't always hear about it."  
  
Ryo-ohki raised an eyebrow. That anybody was somehow maintaining contact without Ryo-ohki knowing about it was news indeed. Ayeka stood.  
  
"Let's get something to eat and then turn in. I am afraid we have a lot of hard work ahead of us."  
  
  
  
Later that evening, with Ryo-ohki stretched on top of the blankets beside her, Ayeka continued to discuss the situation. Everyone involved seemed to harbor the opinion that Tomokon wasn't capable of orchestrating the entire situation on his own, but no one had yet guessed who was really behind it.  
  
"Kaji and Kiyone are considering that you may have had something to do with it." Ryo-ohki couldn't meet Ayeka's gaze.  
  
Ayeka just looked out the window, into the distance.   
  
"That is my fault," she said quietly. "I have been too wrapped up in my duties, I haven't been around as much as I should have. The must be wondering if 'absolute power' has corrupted me."  
  
Ryo-ohki squeezed her arm. "Their exact words in fact. They are just confused. In their hearts they know you."  
  
"They must have broached their concerns to you. What did you tell them?"  
  
Ryo-ohki yawned. "I told him that I was in love with you, just to get them off my back."  
  
"And are you?" Ayeka asked, after a moment's thought.  
  
Ryo-ohki didn't answer right away.  
  
"You know that that I care about you deeply, but that I'll never feel romantically towards you, dear Ryo-ohki." Ayeka continued softly.  
  
"I don't know how I feel. I am not human and I am not a woman. I am a machine, so how can I love? And if I can, and I loved a woman, how could that be wrong or deviant?" Ryo-ohki said bitterly.  
  
"It wouldn't be wrong," Ayeka answered immediately. She sat up and leaned over Ryo-ohki and kissed her tenderly on the eyelids that were already squeezing out tears.  
  
"And I wouldn't be ashamed to have you as a lover either. It's just that I haven't felt romantically attracted to anyone for a very long time. Not since I became Empress. Ever since then, Jurai is my first and only love."  
  
Ayeka lay back on the bed and both beings thought about the time she was referring to.   
  
  
  
The gargantuan arachnoid aliens crept closer, as one large mass threatening to over run the Juraian force. The Juraians for their part had no hope of survival. They fought desperately, as does a cornered animal. Occasionally, a Bugrom warrior would fall, but never often enough.  
  
Ayeka projected her shield to defend as many warriors as she could, but she was growing weaker by the minute. The Juraian honor guard formed a wall between the princess and the enemy, just inside the shield. They had fired outward through the shield with the blast-rifles that Professor Washu had provided until they ran out of power. Now, they stabbed at the insectoid aliens with swords and spears. They had been under attack for hours, and the strange bolts of energy that the aliens emitted from their antennas were devastating to the Juraians. Even the shield of Jurai power that Ayeka emitted only softened the blows, it could not eliminate them entirely.  
  
Sensing her weakness, the enemy leader shouted orders in the strange rattling language of the Bugrom. More and more blasts came her way, forcing her and her royal guard further back into the canyon. It was a dead end, in more ways than one. Once in a while, a Juraian soldier would stumble and fall out through the shield. Instantly, the Bugrom would drag the unfortunate soldier away to be dismembered. All the while the enemy commander would be howling with insane laughter.  
  
Ayeka stared at him, the enemy commander, this insane Jinnai. His long face was scarred evilly by some previous foe. His hair hung long and greasy over black armor that looked to be formed from the shells of dead insects and other kinds of enemies. Ayeka could clearly see the gleam of pure malice that lurked in his eyes. This man didn't want to conquer the galaxy, he wanted to destroy it, seeking vengeance against it for past wrongs, real or imagined.   
  
And then, as another Juraian soldier was mutilated, Ayeka realized that she too was going to die. There were just three Juraian soldiers left. Sensing the princess's fatigue, they desperately moved into shield her, their backs pressing her against the dead end of the canyon wall. But, Ayeka refused to die this way, cowering behind another. In life, princesses and kings were important people, bowed to on bended knee. But this was not life. This was death, and in death royalty was no more or less than anyone else. On Earth, Ayeka had once seen a TV show in which it was described how a king would pass through the intestines of a beggar by way of a fish that would eat the worm that had eaten the dead king. So be it, Ayeka thought. I will die fighting along side the warriors.  
  
"Attack!" she cried, stepping out in front of her dwindling honor guard and letting her shield drop. Jinnai, suspicious, called for his evil army to hold for a moment. The canyon was plunged instantly into silence. Even the remaining Juraian warriors were caught off guard and turned slightly to see their princess.  
  
"Come, warriors, attack!" Ayeka repeated, her small voice echoing clear and strong over the hoards of the enemy, "Remember we swore we would die together? I say that you will not die defending someone as unworthy as myself!"  
  
Ayeka picked up a sword from a fallen Juraian soldier and pointed it at the grinning figure of Jinnai. "If we are to die, then we die, together, for Jurai! Attack!"  
  
And with that, Ayeka and the three Juraians charged at their attackers, blades whirling and glinting in the triple suns of the alien world. Caught in surprise, the Bugrom fell back at first. Ayeka and her troop made use of the narrow walls of the canyon to limit the ability of the Bugrom to attack en masse.   
  
As the Bugrom fell beneath the renewed Juraian onslaught, the evil Jinnai recoiled in fear. Instead of seeing the princess and three warriors, his diseased mind was filled with images of four unearthly horsemen riding towards him through a hellish inferno. Screaming wildly and foaming at the mouth slightly, he lashed at his troops to attack the four harder.  
  
Despite their early successes, four against a thousand are too great of odds, and soon one, and then another of the Juraians fell. The final soldier leapt in front of an energy blast directed at Ayeka, and fell to the ground, burned badly but alive.  
  
"Noooo!" Ayeka screamed, dragging the dying soldier into a side alcove. The sight of her last fellow Juraian falling was just too much for her to bear. Irrationally she was determined to save him, even as he was gasping breaths at her to save herself. Shielding the soldier with her own body she slashed and cut one handed at the enemy, tears streaming down her face.   
  
Ayeka's mind suddenly cleared and she found she had no fear of death. Instead, she found herself consumed by one single thought, that life was precious. She absolutely knew that the soldier behind her, whose name she didn't even know, must be protected at all costs. He was one of her subjects, a citizen of Jurai, and it was a ruler's first and most sacred duty to protect her subjects. Ayeka's body began to glow with a pale blue aura. Her Jurai battle garb melted away, leaving in its place the brilliant white robes that manifested whenever a member of the royal family called upon the purest form of the Jurai power.  
  
The white aura spread out along the blood stained blade that Ayeka still held, and all at once it felt light as a feather. Ayeka stood in the entrance to the alcove and fought single-handedly against the Bugrom army, hacking, slashing and killing all who came within reach.  
  
All the while, Jinnai was shouting himself hoarse, exhorting his minions on to crush her. The supply of aliens seemed inexhaustible and even the Jurai power was not limitless. Finally, the strength left her and a severe blow sent her weapon flying through the air. Stunned and numb, her mangled arm flopped uselessly at her side, bleeding, and she collapsed against the soldier, who pulled her closer, still trying to do his duty to protect her.   
  
The nearest Bugrom lunged forward at once. Ayeka closed her eyes and screamed. The scream came far louder than she had thought herself capable, and the pain of dismemberment seemed to be taking a tad longer than expected. In fact, Ayeka realized, as she drew another breath, that she wasn't the one screaming and she wasn't being dismembered. But, someone was screaming, a horrific, blood curdling scream of rage, anger and defiance. A great deal of battle noise accompanied the screaming. Ayeka opened her eyes.  
  
Two legs and a fairly tight set of buttocks were planted firmly in front of her, clad in a skin-tight red cloth. A blur of bright orange seemed to flash everywhere at once, and where it passed, little bits of alien blood and body parts fell. Ayeka looked further up the legs and back as the clothes turned from red to black, and long, cyan hair seemed to swirl and snap through the air. The black outfit continued up the neck across the face, passing bared fangs, snarling lips and brilliant yellow eyes.   
  
It was perhaps, Ayeka though perversely, the most beautiful that Ryoko had ever looked to Ayeka. And a thing of beauty she was. Never moving her feet, whirling her orange blade faster that the eye could follow, carving away at a seemingly endless supply of Bugrom warriors.   
  
Ayeka unsteadily got to her feet and picked up her discarded weapon. Summoning previously unknown reserves of Jurai power, she stepped up beside Ryoko and began to hack and slash furiously at the Bugrom, adding her own, though somewhat weaker war cry to Ryoko's. Together, the princess and the pirate, perhaps two of the most powerful women in the universe, began to drive the enemy back, away from the alcove and the wounded soldier.  
  
Snarling, the enemy commander Jinnai lashed his whip at his soldiers, demanding that they hold their ground. Suddenly, a panic swept through the enemy forces. Heads were turned, not to look at the two death-dealing women, but to look behind them at the mouth of the canyon. Ayeka allowed just a tiny glance in that direction.  
  
There, on the rear flank of the Bugrom hoard, dealing a little death of their own, stood Lords Yosho and Tenchi, white Juraian battle robes shining brilliantly across the battle, each with a Lighthawk sword in their right hand, and a shield of Jurai power in their left. Caught between these two forces, and now suddenly taking aerial fire from the newly arrived Yagami and Ryo-ohki, the Bugrom army shrank rapidly from a thousand, to a hundred, to ten. Ryoko and Ayeka, moving as one, slashed forward through the ranks, towards the leader of the enemy army, Jinnai.   
  
Jinnai, for his part, was not caught unaware. He had already drawn his sword to slash at Ayeka. Ayeka didn't even move, knowing that Ryoko would save her, even as the space pirate flashed forward, severing Jinnai's arm from his body. And, Ryoko was already extinguishing her blade, not needing to fear for her own safety as Ayeka's blade separated Jinnai's head from his body.   
  
Lord God Katsuhito Jinnai's head fell, and with it, complete silence. Ayeka stood, refusing to succumb to the fatigue and strong urge to pass out. She listened to the silence that signified the end of the battle, and the end of the war. She turned, not to Ryoko, or Tenchi, but back to the fallen soldier, who was weak, but conscious. Tears streamed from his eyes as he watched in awe and devotion as Princess Ayeka approached him, her white robes swirling behind her as she walked. She tore off part of her sleeve and began to bind his wound, oblivious to her own nearly broken and mangled arm.  
  
"Empress," he gasped, and began to sob.  
  
Ayeka looked at him, and a tear began to trickle down her own cheek as the green glow of Yagami's transport beam began to take her on board.  
  
  
  
Ayeka woke suddenly, feeling the wetness of tears on her cheeks. Somehow she had managed to sleep through the horrible memory. Outside, the cicadas chirped and chattered on as the sun began to rise. Ryo-ohki had fallen asleep some time earlier and was snoring almost silently in long deep breaths. On the trip back to Jurai from that fearsome battle, Tenchi and Ryoko had related the story of their escape from El Hazard that had allowed them to come to Ayeka's defense, and broken the news of their engagement. Stunning all others present, except perhaps Ryoko, Ayeka kissed them both and embraced them tightly. She still couldn't remember when she realized that not only could she no longer feel the slightest bit of jealousy towards Ryoko, but also she couldn't even seem to remember having ever felt the need to be jealous.   
  
The wounded soldier had clung fiercely to life until they returned to the shattered royal palace on Jurai. There, he had told the story of the final battle with his dying breaths, referring to Ayeka only as Empress and never princess. In honor of his memory, Ayeka had accepted no other official coronation and immediately had set about rebuilding her planet as monarch of Jurai.  
  
Ayeka carefully got out of bed and began to dress herself. Ryo-ohki, sensing Ayeka's absence woke up and looked around sleepily.  
  
"If you are rested, my friend, I think it's time we were going."  
  
Ryo-ohki nodded and followed her out of the bedchamber. The two Juraian knights fell in behind them. Ayeka led the small party out to a wide balcony, hundreds of feet above the ground. The clear blue Juraian sky surrounded them. Ayeka breathed in the fresh air. It was hard to believe that evil existed anywhere in the Universe when she breathed free, clean air such as this. Well, no point in delaying the inevitable.  
  
"Ryo-ohki, if you please."  
  
Ryo-ohki stepped up to the railing of the balcony, then dove up and outwards, enjoying the fall. Her hair streamed out behind her as she dropped, arms and legs spread out like wings. She began her transformation, turning, folding, and growing. No longer falling, Ryo-ohki soared in a long loop, rising and turning back to the balcony. A green light bathed Ayeka and the knights, lifting them into the air and sweeping them up into Ryo-ohki as she roared past.   
  
"Mreeoooooowwooooooooooooo!" Ryo-ohki howled for all to hear as she streaked upwards through the atmosphere, bursting through the morning clouds.   
  
Inside the cabin, Ayeka sat in the pilot's chair. She had directed the two knights to get some sleep, since she had no need for bodyguards while on board Ryo-ohki.   
  
"We are in space, Empress," Ryo-ohki's tinny mechanical voice reverberated through the cabin. "What course shall we set?"  
  
Ayeka punched in the coordinates. "Open a channel to Galaxy Police headquarters." 


	11. The Quiet Before the Storm

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 11: The Quiet Before the Storm  
It is flying towards the fan  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
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Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 11  
  
"Aunt Ayeka, thank goodness it's you! You must hurry up and help us get Mommy and Daddy back. Order your soldiers to let them go, they'll have to listen to you..."  
  
Kiyone shushed Ryeka. From the communications monitor, Ayeka smiled at the youthful innocence and belief in the power of adults to save the world.  
  
"Unfortunately, my dear these particular soldiers aren't paying very much attention to me. But don't worry, we will rescue your mother and father, I promise you."  
  
Ayeka spoke to Kiyone next. "Ryo-ohki and I are going to find Tsunami and bring her back to help. I am transmitting you the latest data I have gathered on the strength of the Juraian fleet at Earth, along with details of my plan. When the time comes, you may have to attack them, alone, until we arrive."  
  
Kiyone looked down at her data pad and nodded. "I have received the information, Empress. Would you like to say hello to Mihoshi and Noboyuki? They are here with us?"  
  
Ayeka nodded. "Of course, patch me through. I'll speak to you again soon."  
  
"Goodbye, Empress," Ryeka said as Kiyone transferred the call to the station quarters where Mihoshi and Noboyuki were staying. Kiyone then transferred the newly received data to Kaji's data pad and he examined it.   
  
"Good plan," he said, nodding approvingly.  
  
"That's why she is the Empress," Kiyone agreed.  
  
"Still," Kaji pointed out, "this could all be an elaborate ruse to snare Tsunami and cement her power as the unquestioned ruler of Jurai."  
  
Kiyone groaned. "Kaji, I thought you were the brightest detective in the whole Galaxy Police. Do you honestly believe that she could be behind this?"  
  
Kaji shook his head waved the data pad. "Not after seeing this data. It's too good. Still, it is interesting how it only takes a little adversity to begin to doubt those we trust, hmm?"  
  
"Yes, and sad," Kiyone nodded. Ryeka reclined in her lap, folding Kiyone's arms around her.   
  
"But, clearly," Kaji continued, "it is unlikely that Tomokon mounted this operation all by himself. I'll grant that he may have the tactical prowess to plan the capture of the Ambassador and his wife. But that doesn't explain how he was able to produce the crystallizing gel."  
  
"I may have a suggestion there," Kiyone offered. "After the destruction of both Sozja and Clay's vessel, the Jurai military impounded the wreckage, refusing to permit any outsiders to examine it. It is possible that they were able to recover some data or a sample from the debris that gave them some idea of how to fabricate the crystal."  
  
Kaji thought that over. "It's possible. However, if that were true and it was only the Jurai military, it is unlikely that the Empress would be bringing in such a heavy hitter as Sasami."   
  
He tapped the data pad.  
  
"Cleary she also believes there is someone else behind this."  
  
"Well, we have a day or so to figure it out. Lets go get something to eat."  
  
Ryeka bounced up and led the way to Noboyuki's quarters. Mihoshi was just laying out dinner. Noboyuki was in the kitchen putting the final touches on the food. Over the years, with a little help from Mihoshi and occasionally Sasami, he had actually become a descent cook. Dinner was laid out, and it was quite a spread.  
  
"Nothing like a good meal to raise your spirits, eh?" Noboyuki said. "Ayeka explained that we were going back to Earth soon, so I wanted to make sure we had one last good meal together before you all got so busy. I know that I don't have super powers, and I never have been very useful on your little adventures, but I want you to know that I will do anything you need to help get my son and daughter-in-law back."  
  
He took off his glasses and blew his nose noisily.  
  
Mihoshi took him by the arm and made him sit at the head of the table.   
  
"Stop that at once, you old phony," she scolded him. "You always have been just as important to our adventures as I have."  
  
"That is an absolutely accurate statement," Kiyone chimed in, trying to keep a straight face. "And we'll need you on this mission, too. Yagami will need some special repairs over the next day or so. Your engineering skills will be needed."  
  
"Me?" Noboyuki asked, "I know nothing of space ships. I build buildings."  
  
"Nonsense, you build worlds. The same skills you use for planning and building cities will let you plan and install the systems on Yagami. I need your organizational skills more than your engineering skills. Mihoshi can liaison to the Galaxy Police to get whatever personnel you need. I have put my needs on this data pad."  
  
Kiyone handed the pad across the table to Noboyuki.  
  
"It is just another project like any other. While publicly the GP can't get involved, privately, they have made certain, ah, resources available to us. Please see that they get installed."  
  
Noboyuki studied the data pad. "Hmmm, yes, I see. Yes this I can do. I will not fail you, Kiyone."  
  
"Me neither," Mihoshi said, voice steady with no trace of her usual airheadedness. "You can rely on us."  
  
For once, Kiyone showed no signs of a twitch in her eye.  
  
"Good, then lets eat."  
  
  
  
Far from Galaxy Police headquarters, Tomokon paced in front of Ryoko's crystal. She refused to look at him, keeping her eyes locked on Tenchi who hung mere meters away.   
  
"Soon this will all be over," Tomokon was saying. "We have word from those in the Royal palace who are loyal to us that the Empress has departed for parts unknown. I expect that she has gone to fetch her sister, Tsunami. When they return, you may live to see the dawn of a new age, and the destruction of the Royal House of Jurai!"  
  
"So we are bait for Tsunami, is that all?" Ryoko said absently, still not looking at Tomokon. "Hell, she's a personal friend of mine. All you had to do was ask and I would have invited her to come. We could have kicked your butt together."  
  
Tomokon laughed humorlessly. "Yes, that is probably true, but one by one, you are no match for us."  
  
Ryoko looked down at Tomokon for the first time.   
  
"You are seriously deluded if you think you are any kind of match for Tsunami, you imbecile."  
  
She flashed a blast from her hands, willing it to hit Tomokon. Tomokon didn't even blink. After the crystal stopped glowing he touched it.  
  
"You must really hate me. That was a very powerful blast. I think you added a whole inch to your prison. But don't worry about me, I won't have to fight Tsunami at all. My 'master' as you call her only requires me to bring Tsunami out of hiding. Once that has been achieved, she will reveal herself as the new Goddess of the Universe."  
  
Ryoko gasped. "Tokimi! You are in league with Tokimi! You idiot! Don't you know that she despises lower life forms? Why do you think Tsunami banished her all those years ago? It was to protect miserable sods like yourself from her wrath!"  
  
"For your information," Tomokon continued, calmly, "Tsunami didn't banish her. It was Tsunami and Washu. The details are scarce and her Ladyship hasn't deigned to fill me in, but I am certain that it took a combined effort between Washu and Tsunami to banish Lady Tokimi to another dimension. Now that we have incapacitated Washu, Tsunami alone will be no match for Tokimi."  
  
Tomokon put his hand on the transducer.  
  
"By the way, we have no desire to harm your little brat. That is why we didn't blast her out of the sky when she ran away and left you here. You better pray that your stray cat Ryo-ohki has enough sense to keep her far from what is coming. Otherwise she will suffer the same fate as you."  
  
Tomokon ripped the transducer off of the crystal. He stood for a moment, savoring his power over Ryoko. Then he marched out of the cell.  
  
Ryoko looked back over at Tenchi, who was looking at her. She shouted and tried to tell Tenchi what she had learned. He just wasn't getting it. Frustrated, Ryoko screamed and blasted against her prison again and again.  
  
Suddenly, Washu was standing beside Tenchi, pulling on his clothes, telling him something. Tenchi stood back and formed the Lighthawk sword. He slashed at the wall of his crystal. Ryoko wanted to tell him it was useless. Each time he struck the crystal grew thicker.  
  
Then, Ryoko figured it out. The crystal grew thicker on the outside, not the inside. She began blasting again, pouring her energy into the crystal. Tenchi hacked away with the Lighthawk Sword. Periodically, each had to stop and rest. Fortunately, Tomokon saw no point in placing guards inside the hold, so they were never interrupted.   
  
Finally, after nine hours of expending energy, the two crystals had grown together, forming a tenuous bridge. One or two more blasts solidified the connection. It was done and Tenchi dropped to his knees. Ryoko would have as well, except for the fact that she was held tight by the crystal. She could no longer see Tenchi clearly, for the crystal had grown so thick that it diffracted the light crazily bending it to and from all directions. But...  
  
"Tenchi! Tenchi, my love! Can you hear me?" Ryoko shouted.   
  
The response was immediate.  
  
"Yes, I can hear you, can you hear me?"  
  
Tenchi's voice came through faintly, somewhat tinny. The crystal seemed to absorb the lower frequencies and resonated more with the higher ones, but it was Tenchi's voice. Ryoko was surprised to find herself crying. She sobbed and told Tenchi everything that had happened to her, that Ryo-ohki and Ryeka had been there and fought their way out. Tenchi related his side of the story that Ryo-ohki had taken Ryeka off of Senzo and presumably to safety.   
  
"Ryeka is alright?" Ryoko begged. "You are sure she got away?"  
  
"Last I saw her she was taken aboard Ryo-ohki and blasting through the ceiling into deep space. I am sure there would have been a lot more damage if Tomokon had tried to stop her."  
  
"Good old Ryo-ohki," Ryoko murmured. Then she remembered.  
  
"Washu! Tomokon is working for Tokimi!"  
  
"Tokimi!" Tenchi and Washu both gasped the name at the same time.  
  
"So," Washu thought aloud, "this is it. Tokimi is finally about to return to our universe. Based on Clay and Tomokon's actions, I think it is safe to say she hasn't changed much."  
  
Tenchi stroked his mustache. "I remember that Lady Tokimi was somehow involved with Dr. Clay's attempt to capture you, but you never said much else about her."  
  
"That's because I didn't remember back then. However, after Sasami-Tsunami settled down, I asked her about it. Apparently, Tsunami, Tokimi and I are sisters. How about that!"  
  
Washu settled back down to a sitting position on the floor. Ryoko pressed her ear to the crystal, straining to catch every word.   
  
"I don't have the whole story, but apparently, Tsunami and I somehow pushed Tokimi away to another universe or dimension or something. Tsunami would only say that it was because Tomiki was out to destroy all of the lower life forms in this universe. By the way, Tenchi, that means you."  
  
Ryoko was a few steps behind the conversation. "Sisters? You mean Sasami is my Aunt? That's weird. She only told me that Tokimi hated lower life forms. Considered them pollution."  
  
"Stay with me, oh daughter of mine. For millennia, Tsunami wondered what had happened to Tokimi. Sooner or later, she might find her way back to our universe and she was likely to be very pissed. She must be getting closer. Dr. Clay had to travel quite far out into space to be able to contact her. But it seems the plan was the same then as it is now. Use Ryoko to capture me, then lure in Tsunami."  
  
Washu smacked her fist into her palm. "Of course! That what Tomokon meant when he said it takes a thief to catch a thief. It takes a goddess to catch a goddess. Tomokon isn't going after Tsunami, Tokimi is. Tomokon is merely luring her into place and keeping us out of the fight so we can't help Tsunami."  
  
Tenchi was instantly concerned. "Can Tsunami defeat Tokimi?"  
  
"Definitely not," Washu said. "Not in her present state. Joined with Sasami, she is even weaker. I am not even sure that together we could beat her, even if I was free. Of course, Tokimi might have been weakened, too, by the displacement, so Tsunami might have a chance. Wow, how exciting!"  
  
"Errrrgh, ahhhhhh!" Ryoko snarled. "Washu! How could you be so blas‚ at a time like this? We're in real trouble. Stop kidding around and get us out of here!"  
  
"Can't do it, kiddo." Washu rapped her knuckles against the crystal. "This stuff is blocking all trans-dimensional activity. That's why you can't phase through it or teleport out of it. It's also blocking my access to my computer console. We are stuck. It's up to the others now."  
  
  
  
Yagami crouched in the space station dock. No longer surrounded by twenty or so mechanics, technicians and armorers, the aging police cruiser may have felt a little lonely. Or perhaps it may have been unable to sleep. Tomorrow was the day Yagami departed for a rendezvous with fate. Perhaps the old spaceship was eager for one more battle.  
  
Mihoshi wasn't. She had worked tirelessly through the previous night and the following day along side her husband, tweaking, tuning and perfecting Yagami. She never remembered being as focused or maintaining Yagami as carefully while she had been a Galaxy Police detective. She truly had never felt as certain and complete before as when she worked along side Noboyuki. Dear Noboyuki, who never yelled at her, never rolled his eyes, never called her an idiot.   
  
Mihoshi quietly got out of bed and stood in front of the mirror, regarding herself in the dim light. She was older, though she didn't look it, and wiser, though she never showed it. She had joined Galaxy Police years ago to satisfy family honor. Her grandfather had been a Marshal, a very high-ranking member of the Galaxy Police, and since she had no brothers or sisters it had fallen to Mihoshi to live up to the family name.  
  
She had tried, really tried. She had even had a few successes, even before meeting Kiyone. But, every day she stood in Kiyone's shadow was a day she that felt useless and out of place. Maybe that was why she had never hurried back to Galaxy police after crashing on Earth, or why she had done everything she could to make sure that she and Kiyone were stationed there. The humans on Earth were so ... normal, Mihoshi fit in so well.   
  
Mihoshi certainly adored Kiyone. Despite their rocky relationship, they had been partners and had braved life and death together more times that Mihoshi could count. But, when Noboyuki had proposed and offered her a way out of that crazy life, Mihoshi took it and never looked back. And, she never had any regrets. She had since then served millions of people better with her natural caring and compassion, traits that had often impeded her police work. Most of all, she lit up the life of a single lonely person, Noboyuki. Mihoshi firmly believed that if you made just one other person happy, you had lived up to your fullest potential. All of the other good deeds you did were just bonuses.  
  
Mihoshi wrapped a robe around herself and left the guest quarters and the softly snoring Noboyuki. She needed to find Kiyone.  
  
  
  
Kiyone was in her quarters, sipping a cup of tea and double-checking the reports of the work on Yagami when Mihoshi walked in.  
  
"Hey, Mihoshi," Kiyone smiled. They almost never got a chance to be together alone anymore. "I was just reviewing yours and Noboyuki's work on Yagami. It's perfect. You got every request done to perfection. Thank you."  
  
"I'm glad, Kiyone," Mihoshi sat down on the sofa with Kiyone, who poured a cup of tea for her. "I - I want to talk to you about something."  
  
Kiyone handed Mihoshi the teacup and settled back into the sofa. "Fire away."  
  
Mihoshi sipped her tea and seemed to choose her words carefully.  
  
"I have decided that Noboyuki and I won't be coming with you tomorrow when you leave."  
  
"Oh?" Kiyone asked. "I ... uh ... Mihoshi, if this is because I always used to yell at you and called you dingbat, I want to say I'm sorry. I should have said it years ago. I was young and more than a little cocky. The truth is you were always one of my best friends. Sure, you really got on my nerves sometimes, but I have missed you these last few years. It makes me sad that I don't have a partner anymore."  
  
"Oh, Kiyone, that's not it. And, I'll always be your partner, whenever and wherever you need me. No, it's about what each of us is meant to do. I have learned over the last twenty years with Noboyuki that I have a purpose, but it is to build, not destroy. That is why I was never a good detective in a fight. That is why I wouldn't be any good to you this time. Fixing Yagami, that is how I could serve you. Not firing a weapon."  
  
Kiyone reached out and grasped Mihoshi's hand. "You aren't an idiot. I was the idiot for not seeing your true abilities before. It was so obvious. All those years at Misaki's, you were always at your best when you were helping others, never while you were forced into battle. Thank you, again. The work you did on Yagami is invaluable."  
  
Mihoshi stood and put the teacup on the tray. Then, she leaned over and gave Kiyone a warm hug. Without another word, she left as quietly as she had come.  
  
  
  
Ryeka stared out of the large port window in her room off of Kiyone's quarters. She was kneeling on the wide windowsill, concentrating, trying to sense her parents somewhere out there. She felt nothing and it made her feel lonely. She had never been so alone before. Always, her mother or her father had been there. Never once had they left her with a sitter or with relatives to go out alone.  
  
Ryeka realized suddenly that she was almost ten years old. She had lost track of the Earth date while she had been flying around on Yagami, but it could only be about a week before her birthday. Silently, she made a premature birthday wish to have her whole family together again.   
  
Then, grimly she stared at her hand. Almost without effort, an orange ball of energy appeared there, glowing angrily in the dimly lit bedroom. She would see to it that her wish came true, just as she would see to it that those responsible for her pain paid dearly for it.  
  
  
  
Ryo-ohki drifted in space. They had arrived at the coordinates Ayeka had given, but Tsunami wasn't there. Ayeka didn't seem worried though. Ryo-ohki trusted her judgment, trusted her completely. Ayeka had been there when Ryo-ohki had been going through the equivalent of her terrible teenage years when she had gained intelligence and humanoid form after merging with the amorphic life form called the Masses.  
  
It had been terrible when Tenchi married Ryoko. Ryo-ohki felt both jilted by Tenchi and betrayed by Ryoko. It had been worse when she realized that Tenchi had always only thought of her as an animal anyway. Later, after the Tsunami/Sasami incident, Ryo-ohki again felt abandoned when Sasami decided to withdraw into obscurity. Ryo-ohki had desperately tried to go with her, but Sasami gently refused, insisting that Ryo-ohki stay on Jurai and continue her development as a sentient being.   
  
Ryo-ohki's salvation had come from quarter least expected. Empress Ayeka, perhaps feeling a little left behind as well, adopted Ryo-ohki as heir to her personal wealth. Though not eligible for ascendancy to the throne, Ryo-ohki nonetheless benefited from the best Royal education and training. A few years back, at a 'graduation' party, the Empress had pronounced by decree that Ryo-ohki was a free and independent being, putting to rest some rumblings in the military community that she be used as a weapon. The whole gang had been there when Ayeka asked Ryo-ohki what she wanted to do with her newfound freedom.   
  
For the first time in her life, Ryo-ohki was challenged to decide her own future. It took only a moment to decide.   
  
"I want only to serve you, Empress," had been her immediate answer.   
  
Ayeka seemed to be overcome for a moment. Few had guessed how deeply she had become attached to the being she once pretended to dislike.  
  
"Well, so be it." Ayeka replied, tears brimming in her eyes like a proud parent.   
  
From that day on, Ryo-ohki remained one of the Empress's closest confidants. She received more specialized, sometimes secret training. Rarely seen in public, Ryo-ohki nevertheless performed many tasks and chores behind the scenes that would have been politically impossible to do out in the open. In this way, Ryo-ohki had become virtually the second most powerful person on Jurai.  
  
"Empress, I am getting a reading. Something is appearing from trans-dimensional space."  
  
Reality seemed to split apart and long, brilliantly white spines appeared, sliding out of the holes into real space. The enormous, proud form of the spaceship Tsunami ripped in and out of reality as is slowed and came to a stop in front of Ryo-ohki. The view screen blurred, the switched to the inside of the giant vessel.  
  
A tall young woman, with perfectly chiseled face and long ice blue flowing hair bowed.  
  
"Sister, it has been quite a while hasn't it." Sasami, or rather the physical manifestation of Tsunami-Sasami smiled warmly.  
  
"Dear Sasami, I have missed you terribly." Ayeka replied. "I wish we saw more of each other when there wasn't some emergency or other to distract us."  
  
Sasami opened her arms, long silken robes rippling as she did so. "Well, we have some time now. Won't you both come over and have some dinner together with us. We can talk about your plan, or whatever you want."  
  
Ryo-ohki was already moving forward, phasing through Tsunami's hull, transforming as she went.   
  
  
  
Tenchi leaned against the crystal and closed his eyes. He imagined that he could hear Ryoko breathing on the other side, although it probably was impossible. The crystal barely conducted their voices when they shouted. She was sleeping though, exhausted from their efforts the day before. She also was growing weak from lack of food. Tenchi himself hadn't eaten in days, though it hadn't started to show yet. Washu was curled up sleeping on the base of their crystal sphere.   
  
Nothing seemed to phase her. Tenchi guessed that when you knew that you were immortal and had lived for twenty thousand years, you prioritized things differently. Situations that others considered dire and life threatening merely seemed interesting to Washu. Tenchi wished he shared that point of view. Perhaps then, he wouldn't feel so unsettled.   
  
Tenchi pondered what Washu had told him about Lady Tokimi, a being so powerful that even Washu referred to her as a goddess. Tenchi looked to the wall beyond which slept his wife. Not very many years ago Ryoko would have been considered a goddess by the primitive peoples of Earth. Even his own ability to call upon the power of Jurai would probably have qualified him for a place in the ancient Greek pantheon. Tenchi had trouble conceptualizing the abilities of a being so powerful that it rated being called supernatural when compared to himself, Ryoko or even Washu.  
  
  
  
Tomokon tossed and turned on his bed. He found it hard to sleep due to his anticipation of the coming showdown with Tsunami, and his eventual reward that would follow. He tried to force himself to dream of wealth and riches. He fantasized about himself surrounded by servants and subjects. However, as he neared sleep, he always lost site of the fantasy and his mind wandered to strange and bizarre thoughts: himself being ridiculed and despised, the demon Ryoko breaking free from her confinement and killing him, himself wearing a kimono and painting his toenails.   
  
Determined to dream an inspiring dream on the eve of his ascension to greatness, Tomokon would wake himself up and start his fantasy over again. He resolved to dream what he wanted to dream, or not sleep at all.  
  
  
  
Ayeka reclined against the soft pillows on the bed that Sasami had made for her. Sasami herself was seated on the bed, wearing pajama's very similar to what she used to wear around the Masaki residence. The effect was supposed to make Ayeka feel that she was just one sister talking with another, and not as Empress of a powerful empire talking to that empire's patron goddess. The effect was only partially achieved.  
  
"Well, Sasami, that was a wonderful dinner. You haven't lost your touch, wandering around out here, that's for sure."  
  
"Thank you. I don't get to cook as often as I would like." Sasami answered with a light smile. "Most of the time, I don't need to eat, anyway."  
  
"Of course not." Ayeka smiled, but an awkward silence hung in the air.  
  
"You want to talk about something else?" Sasami asked.  
  
Ayeka nodded. "I ... I don't even really know how to articulate it, or if you will have the answer. Even after all these years, I have trouble seeing you as an all powerful multi-dimensional being and not as my dear little sister."  
  
Sasami crawled across the bed and flopped down in the pillows next to Ayeka.  
  
"I know. I love that about you, Ayeka. Hardly anyone else thinks of me as Sasami anymore. After the troubles, people that I used to know just sort of look at me and see something powerful and dangerous. But, I am still Sasami." Sasami frowned as if trying to convince herself. "I feel like Sasami."  
  
"What about Tsunami?" Ayeka asked. "I have always wondered if you feel like two people sometimes."  
  
Sasami shook her head. "Not anymore. During the ... merge as you call it ... I didn't know who I was. But, once I got my head together it felt like Tsunami was remembering me as memories of her own youth. Now, I feel like I have always been Sasami-Tsunami and never was two different people. Does that make sense?"  
  
Ayeka shrugged. "No, not really. I guess I should have talked with you sooner."  
  
Now Sasami shrugged. "We're talking now aren't we? And hey, what is a mere twenty years to beings like us?"  
  
Ayeka looked up, slightly startled. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
"I ... nothing ... just, you know, you are already nearly a thousand. So what's twenty years?" Sasami changed her position and sat up to study Ayeka. "Is something like that bothering you, Ayeka?  
  
Ayeka looked away for a second then back at Sasami. "Sasami, I have only seen you twice in the fifteen years since you merged with Tsunami. You look to me exactly like Tsunami. Do I look different to you?"  
  
Sasami's smile faded and she took on a troubled expression. "I didn't want to say it, Ayeka, but yes. You look older."  
  
Ayeka let out a sigh. "I thought so."  
  
"But, not much, and it might just be the new hair style," Sasami went on quickly. "Plus, being Empress was bound to take its toll on you. Maybe it's nothing..."  
  
Ayeka waved her off. Then she spoke.  
  
"I am aging, Sasami. I was hoping that you would be able to tell me why."  
  
"Why me?" Sasami asked.  
  
"Because I suspect it has something to do with the Jurai power."  
  
Ayeka sat up and turned to face Sasami, her face very serious.  
  
"Throughout our history, Juraian monarchs have periodically called upon great amounts of the Jurai power for one reason or another. You know this better than I, because you were there. Empress Henisaye while fighting against your friend Yugi, the Emperor who defeated Kain, as well as Tenchi's mother Achika, Yosho versus Ryoko, myself in the Bugrom war. And there are more. What do all these Juraians have in common besides their uses of the Jurai power?"  
  
Sasami was looking down now, not meeting Ayeka's eyes. "I don't know, suppose you tell me?"  
  
"They all suffered unusual lives and deaths following their use of the power. Henisaye abdicated just three years after defeating Yugi, claiming ill health. Both of the Juraians who defeated Kain died after very short lives. Yosho aged uncommonly fast after defeating Ryoko. He died at only 3800 years of age, even while living near a Jurai tree. And now, I am aging."  
  
Ayeka reached out and pressed Sasami's hand between her own two hands.  
  
"Sasami what does it mean? Am I going to die soon as well?"  
  
Sasami shook her head. "I don't know. But you are correct in your observations. It is true that the Juraians you have mentions have suffered after using overwhelming amounts of the Jurai power. But it isn't the power that caused their declines. It was the decision to use it in the first place."  
  
"Can you explain that?" Ayeka asked softly.   
  
Sasami looked up. "Each of you made a choice whether you knew it or not. You all made the decision to sacrifice your own lives for the sake of others. Making that decision out of love is the only way to truly access the full power of Jurai."  
  
Ayeka stared her sister, trying to understand.  
  
"So, you are saying that I chose to age? I don't remember making that choice."  
  
Sasami smiled. "No, silly. As a Juraian, you were nearly immortal compared to just about every other race in the universe. Most beings with very long life spans fear death to a greater degree than others. However, that day that you stood between a single dying soldier and the Bugrom army, you were willing to through away your immortality to save just one life."  
  
Ayeka nodded. "I guess I already knew that. And, to be honest, I don't mind knowing that I will die sooner than later. It means less time that I will have to live without the people I love."  
  
Sasami crawled up and laid her head against Ayeka's shoulder.  
  
"The candle that burns twice as brightly burns half as long," she said. "You, Yosho, Tenchi, all of us have burned very brightly."  
  
"I am glad I didn't now this before we made our plans earlier this evening." Ayeka said. "I would willingly make this sacrifice again myself if I could, but I hate asking others to make a sacrifice that they don't even know about."  
  
"That is why you are the Empress, Ayeka."  
  
Ayeka put her arm around her sister. She thought of Ryo-ohki in the next stateroom, sleeping. She thought about Tenchi, Washu and Ryoko, wherever they were. She thought about all of her close friends. Which one might have to make the ultimate sacrifice? How many more times during her reign would she have to send people to their deaths to serve the greater good?  
  
  
  
Darkness began to fade. A dim light was almost visible. The being clawed her way forward as she had done for thousands of years. Closer, closer, she could feel that she was almost there. She had been cast so far from home, banished into darkness deeper that death. But, she knew the way home. She could already extend parts of her consciousness back into her native universe, contacting slaves to prepare the way for her advent.  
  
Tokimi struggled and pulled her way forward. Closer, closer to revenge on her sister goddesses for what they had done to her. Closer to remaking the universe after her own designs. She would sweep away most of the filthy little life forms that polluted the cosmos. She would return balance and perfection to the galaxies and star systems, so that planets could circle stars unencumbered by the bands of artificial satellites and spacecraft that subtly robbed them of their energy, robbed them of the perfect choreography of orbit and motion.  
  
Oh, yes. She would set things right the way she had intended to before Tsunami and Washu had betrayed her so many years ago. The thought of Washu provoked Tokimi's rage even more. The insolent trickster was even more insulting that the self-righteous Tsunami. Washu hadn't even cared enough to take a stand for either Tsunami or Tokimi. She had simply cast a random binary equation, choosing sides with the result. It irked Tokimi that she had been defeated simply by chance. It could just have easily been Tsunami who had been cast out. Well, a small part of her ego considered, this time it would be both Tsunami and Washu who spent millennia in exile. 


	12. The Storm I

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 12: The Storm I  
It hits the fan  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 12  
  
Kaji adjusted Yagami's heading slightly. The new heading had them drifting towards a very large asteroid. Yagami straightened out and seemed to pause in space for a moment, then a brilliant purple shaft of light exploded from the front of the aging police cruiser. The beam lashed out across the asteroid from top to bottom in the blink of an eye, then the beam vanished. The asteroid started to vent steam and gases along the line that the purple beam had cut, then abruptly, the asteroid spit into two halves, pushed apart for a moment by the release of the gases.   
  
"I can't believe the power of that particle cannon. Where did you get it?" Kaji asked, as excited as a little boy in a toy store as he tested some of the newly installed systems.  
  
"It was a Christmas gift from Washu, along with the jammers and the holographic clones and most of the other stuff."  
  
"Two questions, Commissioner. What's 'krissmass' and does Washu usually give out deadly super weapons as gifts?"  
  
"Two answers, it's like Juraian Startica, and yes. It seems Washu has some obsessive compulsive desire to make weapons. Most of the stuff she gives me as presents goes into a heavily guarded bunker. However, I felt that a few of the items would be useful for this little trip. Did you know I have coffee maker that doubles as a matter annihilation device?"  
  
"Ah, um, that wasn't one of the things that Mihoshi installed was it?" Kaji played with the console a little more. A light flashed for attention.  
  
"No, I gave up drinking coffee shortly after that."  
  
"Commissioner, we have an contact approaching at high speed. It's Ryo-ohki." Kaji looked up. "The improved scanners show that the Empress is on board, but no indication of Tsunami."  
  
The command console beeped for attention. Kiyone keyed it and Ayeka's face appeared.  
  
"Good day, Commissioner Kiyone. I trust everything is in readiness?" Ayeka asked.  
  
"Yes, your highness. You are welcome to come aboard at your leisure. I look forward to seeing you again in person, it has been years."  
  
"Yes, of course. We will rendezvous with you in ten minutes."  
  
The screen went blank.  
  
"That was abrupt." Kaji noted.  
  
"She probably didn't want too much said on an open wavelength. Since Jurai military elements are involved, they probably routinely eavesdrop on Ayeka's communications. I know I would."  
  
They watched out the window as the shining speck that was Ryo-ohki approached and became recognizable. Ryo-ohki pulled along side of Yagami, matched speed and then slowly phased into it.   
  
By the time Kiyone and Kaji reached the common area, Ayeka and Ryo-ohki had arrived and were seated on a broad sofa. Ryeka had woken up, though perhaps she had never been asleep, and was sitting in Ryo-ohki's lap, pretending to be asleep so she wouldn't have to move. Kiyone and Kaji pulled a couple of soft chairs over and sat down opposite Ayeka.  
  
"Well, Kiyone," Ayeka began. "You have been very busy over the last thirty-six hours. Yagami seems to have grown some impressive armaments."  
  
"It was Noboyuki and Mihoshi's hard word. I gave them some of Washu's little toys and had them installed."  
  
"Where are Noboyuki and Mihoshi?" Ryo-ohki asked, looking around.  
  
"They didn't want to come," Ryeka said, not opening her eyes.  
  
"Half true," Kiyone said. "The wanted to come but felt they would be in the way."  
  
Ryo-ohki prodded Ryeka. "You could have stayed behind, too. It would have been safer."  
  
"Never," was the only reply Ryeka gave.  
  
"Actually, it's fortunate that you are here, my dear. You see my plan..." Ayeka started.  
  
"Before that, Empress, may I ask if you were successful in finding Tsunami? I notice she didn't come back with you." Kaji inquired abruptly.  
  
"Yes, young man, of course I was successful," Ayeka replied a little frostily. "But, since the plan involves her surprise appearance, it didn't seem wise to be seen traveling together. She will appear at the appointed time. Now, please don't interrupt while I explain a slight change to the plan. It was Sasami's idea, and it is quite clever..."  
  
  
  
Two hours later in Earth orbit, Tomokon was summoned to the bridge.  
  
"Sir, two vessels approaching. They are jamming us, but I am certain that one of the vessels is Ryo-ohki. The other matches the old GP cruiser that attacked us a few days ago."  
  
Tomokon took his command seat and arched his fingers.   
  
"Any sign of any other vessel?" he demanded.  
  
The sensor operators twisted their knobs and pushed some buttons. Finally they answered.  
  
"No, sir. Nothing else registers."  
  
"Could the jamming be hiding another ship, a much larger ship?" Tomokon asked carefully. Whether or not Tsunami was out there would affect his decisions.  
  
Again the sensor operator answered. "No, sir. Our counter measures are nulling out the jamming. There are only the two vessels. They are four hundred thousand kilometers away and closing rapidly. Time to contact is twenty minutes at this rate."  
  
"Have five of the smaller ships fly out to intercept them." Tomokon thought it unlikely that just two ships, even if one was the infamous Ryo-ohki, would assault the fleet alone. Still, better safe than sorry.  
  
"Have the cruisers Toi Shima and Ke Ghare take up positions on our flanks. And, keep scanning all sectors for any other ships."  
  
Five Juraian frigate class warships accelerated away from the orbiting fleet above Earth and blazed out to intercept the incoming ships. The captain of the lead vessel broadcast a warning as soon as they got close.  
  
"Incoming vessels. You have been identified as hostile. You are ordered to halt and prepare to be boarded."  
  
In response the former Galaxy Police cruiser emitted a bright purple beam of energy. The beam splashed against the lead frigates shields and overloaded them. The beam continued through the shields unabated and burned a clean hole through the frigate, destroying the engines as it came out the other side. The frigate listed in space, small fires ignited by the intense heat of the beam were blistering it's hull.   
  
The remaining frigates immediately opened fire with their blast cannons.  
  
  
  
On board Yagami, Kiyone and Kaji were elated.  
  
"Yee-ha! Take that," Kiyone gloated as she weaved the ship in and out among the incoming blaster fire. "What a weapon! Good old Washu! How long till it recharges?"  
  
"Ten seconds!" Kaji responded. "I'm opening fire with conventional weapons until it does."  
  
Beside Yagami, Ryo-ohki also pin-wheeled around the incoming fire.  
  
"Return fire, Ryo-ohki," Ayeka commanded. Ryeka held on the arm of the pilot's chair to keep from falling off balance.  
  
"Right!" Ryo-ohki began blazing away at the rapidly approaching frigates.   
  
Less powerful than Yagami's particle cannon, Ryo-ohki nevertheless sliced away at the enemy, spreading havoc and debris wherever she struck. Yagami's particle cannon fired again. This time, the commander of the frigate that was hit must have boosted his shields because the beam was nearly absorbed. However, the strain must have burned out the frigate's power core, because the ship suddenly went dark, and all of it's weapons ceased firing.  
  
The remaining three frigates fixed their weapons on Yagami, which gave Ryo-ohki a chance to make a pass over one of them, destroying the sensor array.   
  
"Yagami this is Ryo-ohki." Ayeka's voice came over the communications system. "Fly straight past them, don't continue to engage!"  
  
"Confirmed."  
  
The two ships streaked past the burning frigates, which turned too slowly to catch them.  
  
  
  
"They're heading straight for us!" the XO gasped.  
  
Tomokon silenced him.  
  
"Get back to your post. Communications officer, order Toi Shima and Ke Ghare to move between those ships and Senzo. All ships are to fire as their weapons bear!"  
  
The two Juraian heavy cruisers slowly moved to block the attacking ships' approach to Senzo. A few other ships sporadically fired, but their positions in Earth's orbit prevented most of them from shooting.  
  
Toi Shima opened fire first on Yagami. The powerful main gun sent an enormous white blast of energy out into space at the incoming ship. The shield deflected most of the blast, but Yagami spun out of control for a moment.  
  
"Evasive maneuvers, now!" Kaji yelled.  
  
Kiyone needed no urging. She spun and jinked Yagami through turns and rolls that made the aging hull groan in protest.  
  
"Target the main gun!" She ordered.  
  
Kaji fired the particle cannon as ordered. He was rewarded by the sight of Toi Shima's bow disintegrating in a flash of an explosion. However, the rest of the Juraian warship's ordinance was still functioning, as was the main gun on Ke Ghare.  
  
Ayeka appeared on the communications console.   
  
"We can't sustain an attack on the cruisers. Full speed between them, use the pattern of maneuvers that Ryo-ohki gave you to try to evade their fire. Continue straight towards Senzo!"  
  
The two ships sped up to barely sub light speeds and raced through a gauntlet of fire between the heavy cruisers. Thanks to complex maneuvers executed by Ryo-ohki and Yagami, most of the Juraians' fire hit each other and missed the smaller ships.  
  
Some hits were scored, however, and Yagami began to trail smoke. The two ships altered course and headed straight towards Senzo's bridge.  
  
  
  
"They're going to ram us! Raise shields! Ahhhh!" Tomokon and most of the bridge crew shielded their eyes as the combined fire of the attacking ships splashed through the shields and against the hull around the bridge.  
  
After they passed by Tomokon regained control of his crew.  
  
"Reacquired them! Where are they?"  
  
"They passed below us and to port, sir! We have them in our sights."  
  
"Show me!" Tomokon snarled.  
  
An image appeared on the large view screen at the front of the bridge. Yagami and Ryo-ohki were turning in formation, coming around for another run. Yagami was now trailing smoke quite badly. Ryo-ohki seemed in perfect fighting condition. That would change now, Tomokon thought to himself.  
  
"Concentrate all fire on Ryo-ohki! Destroy that ship!"  
  
A blaze of fire erupted from Senzo's lateral gun ports. The blasts converged on Ryo-oki... only to pass straight through the small warship!  
  
"Wha..?" Tomokon's lips flapped slightly as he watched a completely unharmed Ryo-ohki continue it's turn towards Senzo, still in perfect formation with Yagami. In fact, Tomokon realized, the formation was too perfect. Impossibly, Ryo-ohki moved in perfect synchronization with Yagami.  
  
"Blast! It's a holographic projection! Fire on Yagami, and reacquire Ryo-ohki!"  
  
Laser fire lanced out washing over Yagami. Yagami's shields collapsed and the holographic decoy of Ryo-ohki disappeared.  
  
  
  
"Aaahhhh!" Kiyone and Kaji screamed in unison as Yagami spun out of control.   
  
"We are entering the atmosphere! We have to eject!" Kaji yelled over the noise of the rapidly disintegrating Yagami.  
  
"Mihoshi should have been here!" Kiyone yelled back as she entered the ejection command codes. "Nobody executes a perfect crash landing like Mihoshi!"  
  
The cockpit door closed and explosive bolts blasted the nose section off of the Yagami's main body. The nose section deployed braking chutes as it plunged down into Earths atmosphere. The main part of Yagami left a long streaking tail of fire as it burned up and was vaporized.  
  
  
  
"Yagami has been destroyed, sir. The pilots ejected, shall we shoot them down?"  
  
"Let them go," Tomoko ordered. "Where is the real Ryo-ohki?"  
  
"I-i-it's gone, sir," the nervous sensor operator stuttered. "Ryo-ohki does not appear on any of the sensors within a half a million kilometers."  
  
Tomokon stared incredulously, then shouted. "Adjust for internal scan!"  
  
Then he punched his armrest intercom. "Security! Intruder alert!"  
  
  
  
Ryo-ohki, Ayeka and Ryeka materialized in the docking station where they Yagami had docked before. When they had passed below Senzo, Yagami had activated the holographic decoy. Ryo-ohki had transformed into her humanoid form while Ayeka had used her power to maintain a shielded bubble of atmosphere around them. Then, holding hands, Ryeka teleported them to the docking port, just as she had done before with Ryo-ohki.  
  
"Like clockwork, well done." Ayeka praised her.   
  
Ayeka created a small ball of light in her hands, and then allowed the ball to grow and pass over her body. Her royal robes melted away and were replaced with the more practical fighting uniform of a Jurai warrior. Similarly, Ryo-ohki rippled her fur to darken and added Jurai battle stripes. Her scarves melted away, leaving her lithe, firm figure covered only by her fur. For effect, she extended claws from her hands and feet, and fangs from her teeth.  
  
Ryeka watched them transform. She had seen her mother and father go through the same transformation sometimes while practicing ritual combat, but they had never told her how or why to do it herself. She closed her eyes.  
  
Her kimono slipped away out of existence and a black film spread from her hands over her body. The film changed to emerald green as it spread down her chest and asymmetrical tiger stripes appeared on her legs and arms. She allowed one third of her face to color pitch black like she had seen her mother do once, and around her other eye, she formed a modified version of the stripes that appeared on her father's forehead when he transformed into his highest state of power.  
  
"Nice outfit," Ryo-ohki complimented. "I have to meet your tailor."  
  
"She's right this way," Ryeka said grimly.  
  
Scooping a handful of energy out of the air, Ryeka blasted the inner door of the docking station away. The three raced down the corridor towards the cargo hold.  
  
  
  
"Sir, intruders heading towards the cargo hold! It's Ryo-ohki, Empress Ayeka and the child!"  
  
"Send security to capture them. I'm on my way..."  
  
"Wait!" the XO gripped his console. "Something is coming... it's coming out of trans-dimensional space!"  
  
Tomokon froze where he was and stared out the large portals. Bright shafts of light were streaming from seemingly nowhere. Long, brilliantly white spines seemed to pierce reality and rippled into being. The spines were followed by the bow of an immense ship, both graceful and imposing at the same time. The arching beams and lines wove together in a heavenly beauty that was the inspiration for all of the Jurai spaceships that had followed.   
  
"Tsunami!" Tomokon gasped.  
  
Even before completely reverting to real space, Tsunami began firing on the renegade fleet. 


	13. The Storm II

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 13: The Storm II  
Passage through the fan  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 13  
  
Tomokon pressed a special button on his armrest. It was preprogrammed to transmit on a very special wavelength directed into trans-dimensional space.  
  
"Milady!" he sputtered. "It's Tsunami, she's here!"  
  
In space, the giant white spaceship Tsunami had completed her entrance into real space and was passing through the renegade Juraian fleet, firing ray after ray at the ships. For their part, the Juraians seemed to appreciate they stood no chance against the First Ship, and were fleeing in all directions.  
  
Suddenly, on the other side of the fleet, space began to shimmer. A large silver mist seemed to appear. The nebulous matter swirled and condensed. Forms and shapes appeared. A ghostly temple phased into existence. Arches and buttresses started from nothing and went nowhere. Rivers of blue water flowed off into space. At the center, a giant tree with its roots exposed appeared. All around floated the debris of civilizations that Tokimi had plundered for resources as she made her way from exile back to the dimension of Earth and Jurai. Giant black shadows rose up from the ruins, stretching across space and blotting out the stars. The shadows seemed to form the illusion of a celestial hall. At the head of the hall, Tokimi herself materialized. Her violet irises floated on blued eyes, her face was painted with emerald patterns. The figure was enormous; it seemed to stretch up from behind the Earth to the moon, though that was just an illusion. Behind Tokimi were two other shadows, profiles of two women. They gave the impression of something missing, something absent. Tokimi's ruby lips twisted into a smile.  
  
"At last!" her voices echoed through the minds of all the beings that beheld her. "Revenge will be mine! I will take your power, sister, and grow stronger."  
  
A translucent hand appeared to reach out of the swirling mist below Tokimi's face. The hand stretched a thousand miles across space towards the once sided battle that Tsunami was waging. Tomokon watched with anticipation. This was it! In Tomokon's warped mind, he envisioned final moment where Tsunami would forever lose her reign over Jurai. Tokimi's tree would takes its place as the life source of Jurai, and as a reward for his service, he, Tomokon, would be made the first Emperor of the Age of Tokimi! The Jurai power would be granted to him alone!  
  
He watched raptly as the Hand of the Goddess closed around Tsunami. The hand, however, seemed to miss. Tokimi's smile turned to a grimace of rage as she tried to grasp at the white ship!  
  
"Ahhhgggggg!" she screamed, causing the bridge crew of Senzo to fall to their knees, clutching their heads in pain.  
  
"Tomokon, you fool! This is not Tsunami! This is a phantasmagoric shadow! An illusion!" Tokimi howled and tore at her hair. "You have been tricked into drawing me out too soon! Find her! Find Tsunami before it is too late!"  
  
Tomokon stared at the screen. He tried to ignore the wailing Goddess who seemed to exist in vision only, not in form. She was unable to connect to Tsunami? No, it wasn't Tsunami? What then? He'd seen the First Ship before, and swore it was the same ship that was before him. Who else could it be?  
  
The display screen blurred with an incoming transmission, then cleared. It showed the figure of a tall woman with porcelain skin and dark, forbidding eyes. She was clad in a pitch black uniform with her blond hair cascading down around her shoulders. Behind the woman were the Juraian knights, Asaka and Kamadake. The woman spoke.  
  
"I am Yugi," she said to the collective gasp of Senzo's bridge crew. "Some call me the Abomination, some call me the Avenger. I was made as a weapon for Jurai, and now I serve that purpose by opposing this renegade fleet. I and these two noble warriors of Jurai will now execute justice against those who have betrayed their Empress, and have betrayed the love of the First Tree of Jurai, Tsunami."  
  
The white-pseudo Tsunami seemed to spasm and flex. The white superficial shell that covered the ship splintered and flew away in all directions, revealing a different spaceship underneath, black and forbidding. Long spidery legs reach out from the ship and sunlight barely reflected from its surface like distorted black pearl. Particle beams, red this time, not white, surged from mandibles and cut into the nearby warships.  
  
"I will spare any who run away, or who surrender immediately. All others will perish!"  
  
All around the monstrous black ship, demons and wraiths appears from nowhere and began attacking the Juraians ships. Many ships turned and fled. Some fired upon Yugi and the wraiths.  
  
Tomokon opened a channel to all ships.   
  
"Stand your ground! All of you! This isn't Tsunami, which means she isn't invincible! Fight her! Destroy this mutant abomination! Her only power is that of illusion! We mighty warriors of Jurai banished this evil creature thousands of years ago and we can do it again!"  
  
Tomokon grabbed his executive officer that seemed on the verge of fainting from fear.  
  
"Get a hold of yourself you coward!" Tomokon slapped the XO hard across the face and threw him over the command chair. "Take over here and destroy that ship! I am going to deal with the Empress and her pet once and for all."  
  
Tomokon dashed from the bridge as the space battle began in earnest, all against the background of the enraged Tokimi, who was helpless to do anything in this dimension except scream and claw uselessly at the ships.  
  
  
  
Ayeka held her shield around Ryeka as Ryeka blasted ball after ball of energy at the soldiers. Some soldiers seemed to have made shields of crystal against which Ryeka's assaults did nothing. The effort seemed to tire Ryeka, who had to stop periodically, seemingly to recharge. Fortunately, Ryo-ohki's claws were there to make a lethal physical attack against the soldiers. Blasting and slashing, the trio plunged down the corridors to the heart of the ship where the holds were.  
  
Outside the hold where Ryoko was being held, Ryo-ohki didn't bother with the control panel but dug her claws into the giant door and pulled. Ryo-ohki seemed to grow as her muscles rippled and bulged. The bulkhead bent and groaned under the strain. With a deafening roar, Ryo-ohki wrenched the doors off their mountings and hurled them aside.   
  
Inside the hold, a squad of soldiers stood between the intruders and the hanging crystals. For a moment, nobody moved. Then Ryeka, Ryo-ohki and Ayeka gave a war cry and plunged into the midst of the soldiers.  
  
  
  
The closer Tomokon got to the holds, the more destruction he saw. Blood and torn bodies littered the corridors, evidence of Ryo-ohki's fearsome strength. Blast marks and melted steel gave tribute to the energy blasts from Ryoko's brat. Tomokon paused to scoop up a blaster and a crystal shield from a dead soldier.   
  
As he approached the hold, her heard the sounds of a dying battle. Crouching outside the door, he peered inside to see Ryo-ohki tossing aside a Juraian soldier like a rag doll. Ryeka and Ayeka were standing before the crystals, staring up at the encased prisoners. Tomokon slipped into the hold and pointed his blaster.  
  
"Don't move!" he growled.  
  
The three women spun around. Tomokon turned the blaster power to high and pointed it at Ryo-ohki.  
  
"Don't move, now! You caught my soldiers by surprise, but I have the drop on you! I'll blast you if I see even one hair of your fur move the wrong way! And don't you try to raise your shield, Empress. If you move your hands at all, I'll fire"  
  
Tomokon grinned and giggled like the madman he was. Ryeka made to form a fireball, but Tomokon raised the crystal shield!  
  
"I said freeze, you little bitch! You are too weak to hurt me, but I can kill your friends if I want to!"  
  
"What is it that you think you can accomplish, Tomokon?" Ayeka asked, calmly. "What is it you want?"  
  
"Tsunami!" Tomokon snarled. "Where is she? She was supposed to come herself, not send her little pet mutant!"  
  
Ayeka smiled with the news that Yugi was running amok among the Juraians. When she had found that Yugi was traveling as a companion to Sasami (probably why Sasami kept such a wide berth of Jurai), Ayeka had conceived the plan to use Yugi ability to create phantoms and alter reality to trick Tomokon.   
  
"Tsunami is otherwise engaged at the moment, I'm afraid. She sends her regards, but declined your invitation."  
  
"No, impossible," Tomokon sputtered. "The Goddess... must have Tsunami's power, only Tsunami can bring her back into this universe!"  
  
"All of which Tsunami is perfectly aware of, you fool," Ryo-ohki growled, waiting for Tomokon to drop his guard for even a second. "Did you really think she would fall into your trap? She guessed immediately that it was Tokimi who was controlling you and what she wanted. Face it, you failed."  
  
Tomokon took an unsteady step towards Ayeka. "No, I have won. I have won! Tsunami is out there, watching, waiting. I'll destroy you and her mutant friend and she will have to come out. She'll never let you come to harm."  
  
Ryeka slowly turned and walked over to the crystals. Tomokon tracked her with the blaster.  
  
"Where do you think you are going, weakling? Trying to free your Mommy and Daddy? You couldn't save them before, and you won't save them now."  
  
Ryeka turned to face Tomokon. She was standing underneath the crystal arch that had formed between her parents. She reached up and placed her hands on the crystal.  
  
"Do you know why I am so weak, Mister?" Ryeka asked softly. "It's because I have no jewels to store my energy when I am not using it, like my mother has. Those gems are batteries really, storing up energy. Kind of like this giant crystal here."  
  
The crystal that held Tenchi, Washu and Ryoko began to glow where Ryeka touched it.   
  
"No!" Tomokon cried and fired the blaster at Ryeka.  
  
Ryeka's eyes flashed with energy and the blaster bolt seemed to bend away and dissipate.   
  
"Think about it," Ryeka continued. The orange glow was spreading outwards from her hands throughout the giant crystal.  
  
"Think about it, this crystal right now has stored up all the energy that my mother and father have expended every day since you captured them."  
  
"Stop!" Tomokon croaked. He was paralyzed with fear, unable to speak or move.  
  
Ryeka's eyes closed to deadly slits.  
  
"I wonder what would happen if I released it all at once?"  
  
  
  
From the surface of the Earth, Kiyone and Kaji thought that the sun had suddenly gone nova. They shielded their eyes against the light and heat as they took shelter behind the wreckage of their escape pod.  
  
  
  
In space, the sphere of pure white light roiled outwards from Senzo, shredding giant ship and tossing all the other ships about like leaves in hurricane. Even Yugi's projected ship was turned and spun in the waves of pure Jurai energy that were spreading outwards from the explosion.  
  
Only Tokimi was unaffected, or not adversely at any rate. In fact, the Goddess seemed to drink in the energy as it washed over her. Her form grew richer, more solid as she used the massive explosion's energy to finish her transition into reality.  
  
  
  
At the center of the explosion, the shockwaves faded away to reveal a shimmering light, bright and pure. A slowly fading six bladed Lighthawk Wings spun around, creating a shield around Ayeka, Ryo-ohki, Tenchi, Washu and Ryoko. The group slowly opened their eyes, discovering that they were unhurt. But, that wouldn't last long, for the protection of the Lighthawk Wings was fading and already the pocket of air was hissing out into space.  
  
"Ryo-ohki, hurry, she can't hold it much longer," Ayeka urged.  
  
Ryo-ohki began to transform as Ryoko frantically started looking around.  
  
"Ayeka, she's gone!" Tears of fear and panic flooded from Ryoko's eyes as she clutched at Ayeka. All reason had vanished from her in fear for her daughter. "My baby Ryeka, she's not here!"  
  
As Ryo-ohki folded and grew around them, Ayeka held the sobbing Ryoko.  
  
"She is here, Ryoko, she's all around us. Look!" Ayeka pointed.  
  
The six-bladed Lighthawk wings shrank as it spun and fluttered to the deck of Ryo-ohki's cabin. The others gathered around as the Wings lost their form and collapsed on themselves, forming a glowing sphere. The sphere faded, revealing the unconscious form of Ryeka.  
  
Tenchi and Ryoko fell to their knees and held their limp daughter frantically.  
  
"She's alive but unconscious," Washu said, already tapping away at her trans-dimensional console. "The poor thing is completely depleted. Amazing, she transformed herself directly into the Lighthawk Wings, exactly the same way Tsunami does. Six blades, too! She is stronger than Tenchi and Ryoko combined."  
  
Ryoko was slowly rocking back and forth on her knees as she held Ryeka. Tears pattered occasionally onto the child's pale face.  
  
"We are always greater than the sum of our parts," Ryoko whispered. "Why shouldn't our children be greater than the sum of their parents?"  
  
Ryoko looked imploringly at Washu. "Mother, help her. Please, please tell me she'll live, make her be all right."  
  
Washu tapped at her keyboard. She seemed at first unable to suppress the emotion that welled up in her.   
  
"She is fine, my darling daughter," Washu said, huskily. "She is already starting to regenerate her power."  
  
The relief was palpable as Ayeka knelt down to take Ryeka's hand. Suddenly, Ryo-ohki was tossed violently around. The hull shuddered and groaned.  
  
"Oh, people," Ryo-ohki's mechanical voice spoke up. "I'm sorry to interrupt your little love-in, but we have a major problem."  
  
  
  
Outside, the now material Tokimi was looming over the Earth, eyes flashing with smoldering anger. In one hand she held Ryo-ohki, in the other Yugi's phantasmagoric vessel.  
  
  
  
"Tokimi is real," Ryo-ohki reported, "and she is very large and in charge." 


	14. The Storm III

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 14: The Storm III  
The other side of the fan  
  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 14  
  
Ryo-ohki twisted and turned, but she could not break Tokimi's grasp. Likewise, Yugi fired her ship's thrusters, but was similarly stuck. Each ship tried firing their weapons, but the energy discharges simply faded away before reaching the giant goddess. Tokimi was laughing maniacally all the while.  
  
"Fools! Why do you not accept your fate? I am reborn!" Tokimi bared her teeth. "And now, I will begin the job of remaking the Universe!"  
  
On board Ryo-ohki, Washu walked up to the giant view screen and stood behind the command console. She crossed her arms and glared out at the image of the giant Tokimi rising up from behind the Earth.  
  
"Tokimi, you haven't changed at all, have you?" Washu asked coldly. She displayed no concern at all for her position.  
  
"Ah, Washu, my dear sister," Tokimi spat out the word. "You look so small and weak in there! Just like one of these miserable life forms I am going to eradicate. Did defeating me take so much out of you and leave you like this?"  
  
"I don't know," Washu answered casually. "I can't remember. I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think defeating you made much of an impression on me."  
  
Tokimi growled in rage. She clenched here monstrous hands tighter around the two spaceships she held captive. Inside Ryo-ohki, the hull groaned with the stress. Similar problems were visible on the side monitor showing Yugi and the Juraian knights being tossed about on their ship.  
  
"Why haven't you learned, Tokimi?" Washu asked sorrowfully. "For over twenty thousand years, according to Tsunami, you could have been reflecting on reason for your banishment. Don't you understand that life is precious? More so to these life forms for whom it is so fleeting?"  
  
"And can't you understand that they are nothing more than a byproduct of our existence? Do you keep the feces that your pathetic new body produces? All I want to do is flush the celestial commode!" Tokimi leered down at Ryo-ohki evilly.   
  
"Tokimi, I am trying to give you a chance," Washu continued. "I understand that you must feel betrayed by what we did to you. But you were wrong, and you had to be stopped."  
  
"You are in no position to give or take anything from me, and you certainly won't be able to stop me. You are too weak. You and the absent Tsunami have weakened yourselves by sharing your power away on these miscreant life forms."  
  
"That is not true," a new voice answered, echoing impossibly through space and reverberating through the captive ships.  
  
Opposite from Tokimi, space shimmered and an equally gargantuan figured appeared. Long cyan hair fluttered in the solar wind. Her face shown in the light from the distant sun. Her robes were of a brilliant white of such purity, that they seemed to emit light of their own.  
  
"Tsunami," Tokimi hissed, her eyes closing to slits of hatred. "My old nemesis."  
  
"Your old friend and sister," Tsunami corrected. "Please, Tokimi, give up this fight, learn from your mistakes and come back to us in peace and love."  
  
"The only mistake I made was trusting you with my plans. I never dreamed that innocent little Tsunami had the guts to oppose me directly. I have learned from my mistakes and I have planned for your arrival."  
  
Releasing the ships, Tokimi suddenly reached out and grasped Tsunami's neck.   
  
"You have weakened yourself as well, joining with this lower life form Sasami, and leaving part of your soul on that distant planet Jurai. I will dispose of you and Washu, I will cleanse the Universe of your pollution and I will rule over my own perfection for eternity."  
  
Tokimi tightened her grip around Tsunami's neck. Tsunami didn't resist, she just stared sadly back at Tokimi.  
  
On board Ryo-ohki, Ayeka beckoned Ryoko and Tenchi to join her at the command console. They placed their palms on it together, and the ship began to glow. On board Avenger, Asaka and Kamadake were taking similar positions beside Yugi and placing their hands on her command console. Avenger's black exterior faded to white and also began to glow.  
  
The two ships moved backwards away from Tokimi and Tsunami until they had a clear view of each other behind Tokimi's back.  
  
"Tokimi, I said you were wrong before, and I'll now tell you why." Tsunami reached her arms out to either side of Tokimi to lightly touch both of the small glowing space ships.  
  
"By creating new life, our power doesn't dilute, it grows, immeasurably. Here are my children, the children of Jurai." Tsunami held the two ships in the palm of her hands.   
  
"And here are my children," Washu said, stepping up to the view screen, indicating Ryoko and Ryo-ohki. "The children of Washu. As my own daughter just taught me a moment ago, our children are greater than the sum of their parents."  
  
A bright triangle of light spread from Avenger to Ryo-ohki and up both of Tsunami's arms. It was the Jurai power flowing from Yugi, Asaka, Kamadake, Ryoko, Ayeka, Tenchi and from Tsunami.  
  
"What are you doing?" Tokimi released her grip on Tsunami and twisted, trying to catch sight of what was going on behind her.  
  
"It makes me very sad," Tsunami said in a small voice. "I have missed you. I hoped and wished that when you returned you would have learned."  
  
"Stop it! Tsunami don't" Tokimi panicked.  
  
Space seemed to twist and tear across Tokimi's chest. The tear opened wider and bits of debris and Tokimi's floating temple began to swirl towards it, as if being pulled in.  
  
"No! Don't send me away! Washu!" Tokimi pleaded, fear showing plainly in her eyes. "Stop this, we can make a deal! Please!"  
  
Washu shook her head sadly. "No, Tokimi. There can be no deal. Either you understand or you don't. And we have no use for a god or goddess with no respect for life."  
  
The tear in space grew wider, and Tokimi's body began to collapse into it. The forces tore and twisted the matter she had pulled together to form herself. She began to swirl down into the void. Clawing frantically, she grasped at Tsunami's arms, trying to hold herself back. Her body shrank further, her shoulders, her arms; all sank into the void.  
  
"Noooooooooooooo!" she screamed as her face melted away. Finally all that was left were her eyes, and then they too disintegrated and fell away.  
  
The rip in space sealed itself and the triangle of light faded. The giant projection of Tsunami rippled and reformed itself as the shining white spaceship that Avenger had impersonated. Slowly, Ryo-ohki and Avenger moved over to rendezvous.  
  
Another view screen appeared on Ryo-ohki. It showed Sasami-Tsunami on the bridge of her starship. Behind her, Asaka, Kamadake and Yugi materialized. Yugi made a gesture with her hand and outside in space, the massive ship Avenger faded and disappeared.  
  
"Ryo-ohki, my dear friend," Sasami said, "You look tired, why don't all of you join me on Tsunami, and rest."  
  
Ryo-ohki phased into Tsunami and began to transform. Her crew was deposited on the bridge of Tsunami, and Ryo-ohki appeared a moment later looking weary indeed. Nobody moved at first, a little dazed by the sudden transition from battle to piece. Then, the started talking at once and asking questions, except for Ryoko was holding the still-sleeping Ryeka in her arms.   
  
Tsunami began a descent into Earth's atmosphere and headed towards the Masaki estate. Along the way, the picked up the brave Kiyone and Kaji, late of the Galaxy Police cruiser Yagami. 


	15. Final Exposition

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter 15: Final Exposition  
Answers are questioned, ends are beginning and the time to go has come  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter 15  
  
"I guess I am just a little thick," Tenchi said as he accepted some stew from the bowl Ryeka was offering him. "I don't really understand what Tokimi was trying to accomplish by having Tomokon kidnap Ryoko and myself."  
  
"It had nothing at all to do with you," Sasami answered, dipping a deep fried shrimp into some sauce. "She wanted me. You see, over twenty thousand years ago, she was banished from this dimension by Washu and myself. It took her all those years for her to get back close enough that she could draw energy from either myself or Washu."  
  
"And she must have learned from Clay that I don't contain that sort of power anymore, if I ever did." Washu continued.  
  
"Oh, you did, little Washu," Sasami added. "Trust me on that. Anyway, Tokimi also clearly knew about the close relationship between all of us and construed first to diminish our ability to resist her by taking out the most powerful among us one at a time, and second to lure me into reach by threatening those I loved."  
  
"We were beginning to wonder if you still loved us at all," Ryoko mentioned, looking sadly at Sasami. "You two have been gone for so long. We were afraid that the troubles all those years ago had some how driven you away."  
  
Sasami looked down and chewed her food, unable to reply. Yugi, who was sitting next to her, gave her a little hug.  
  
"It's true that the events of the last military insurrection weigh heavily on me," Sasami said. "It was necessary for me to remove myself from Jurai and it's politics. If I had remained, the families of those who..."  
  
The words caught in Sasami's throat and she couldn't finish. Ayeka finished for her.  
  
"Some of the families of the other nobles who perished due to the military's misuse of Tsunami's power," she said, pointedly relieving Sasami of responsibility, "potentially could have tried to use the situation to remove me from power. Sasami agreed to leave so that I would look to have banished her. It was a sacrifice she made so that I could continue to rule and thereby bring our shared vision of a peaceful Jurai into reality."  
  
"I understand that," Tenchi said, "but you could have come back here, Sasami. It must have been so lonely for you out there alone. Uh, I'm sorry, Yugi, I didn't mean to imply that you weren't there, but I mean that we all could have supported Sasami."  
  
Sasami wiped her eye and nodded. "I wanted more than anything to come back here. But, I needed to be alone for a while. Plus, there are a lot of problems and suffering out in the galaxy in areas not controlled by Jurai. It helped me to recover by helping others who were in such dire need. Also, after I regained my full consciousness with Tsunami, I realized that Tokimi was definitely trying to make her return. I guess I didn't want to risk anyone else getting hurt if she came after me."  
  
"Well," Washu chimed in, cheerfully, "we certainly won't have to worry about that for another twenty thousand years!"  
  
Ayeka's jaw dropped. "You mean that horrible woman will return again someday? I hoped that we had gotten rid of her for good!"  
  
"Oh, no," Washu, giggled. "I couldn't do that to my own flesh and blood, even if I can't remember that she is my flesh in blood. Besides, you can't kill a god. She'll be back all right. Let's hope she learns her lesson this time."  
  
"But, what was that brilliant explosion?" Kiyone asked.  
  
"That was Ryeka," Ayeka said. "After I met with Tsunami, it was suggested that since Ryeka's life energy oscillates in the same two dimensions as the crystal, she should be able to release the energy stored in them the same way Ryoko does with her gems."  
  
"You took a hell of a chance with our daughter, Ayeka" Ryoko said, disapprovingly. "I always thought that you were more responsible than that."  
  
Ayeka didn't answer; she just looked to Ryeka to respond. Ryeka did so, sheepishly.  
  
"The explosion wasn't part of the plan," she said, climbing up into Ryo-ohki's lap. "I was supposed to release just enough to free Mommy and Daddy, and maybe disable the ship. We had no idea how much energy was there. I guess all that effort you and daddy used to make that connection between the crystals was more than I could handle. Once the energy started to flow through me, I couldn't control it and it went all at once."  
  
Ryeka pulled Ryo-ohki's arms around her. The room seemed to hold its breath.  
  
"How did you make the Lighthawk wings," Tenchi asked, quietly.  
  
Ryeka didn't answer. She just breathed out a long breath and seemed deep in though.  
  
"I don't know, I don't think I am meant to know. All I remember is that the energy that I was releasing seemed to drag me along with it. It burned; I think it was burning up my body. I think I died. Then ... I ... I just felt like I was the light, not Ryeka anymore. I could feel that you all were nearby and need to be protected, but I wasn't scared or worried, I just felt like I loved you all so much. It felt like I was just holding you all in a big hug. Then, it started to fade and I don't remember much else."  
  
Ryeka frowned and looked at Washu.  
  
"Except, it felt like I was hugging Tokimi, too."  
  
Washu nodded. "I don't understand, exactly, either. But, I believe that you took on the manifestation of nearly pure love, which I have always suspected was the primary basis of the Jurai power. In that state, you reached out to all of those who needed protection and love, including Tokimi most of all. She simply used your energy to strengthen herself and come fully back into this dimension."  
  
"But," Kiyone asked, "How were you able to defeat her? I thought she was much more powerful than both you and Tsunami combined?"  
  
Washu shook her head. "But it wasn't just me and Tsunami. It was all of us. It was Ryoko and Ryo-ohki who apparently I subconsciously imbued with some of my former power. It was Asaka, Kamadake, Ayeka and Tenchi, all whom magnify the Jurai power. It was Yugi, who was genetically enhanced by Juraian scientists thousands of years ago, probably for the sole purpose of defeating Tokimi when she returned. Most of all, what I said, what Ryoko taught me, was true. Our power isn't diminished when we share it with our children. It grows, and multiplies with every generation. I have no doubt that when Tokimi returns the next time, we won't need to banish her again. I suspect that we will have grown so powerful by then that she won't even be a threat."  
  
A devilish glint appeared in Washu's eye. "After I realized that, opening a rift to an unreal imaginary dimension was simple for the greatest scientific genius in the Universe! Ah-hah!"  
  
As a chorus, all the members of the dinner party raised their glasses and uttered the Washu cheer.  
  
"You are a genius Washu! You are the greatest Washu!"  
  
  
  
Dinner was finished in a very relieved and rowdy atmosphere. Afterwards, Tenchi issued an ambassadorial decree that the dishes could wait until morning and the group broke up into smaller groups. Kiyone used the house communications unit to place a call to Mihoshi and Noboyuki to encourage them to try to get to Earth while everyone was still there. Then she placed a call to Galaxy Police headquarters to request a new personal starship to replace Yagami. Afterwards, she went for a evening walk with a bouquet to place in the lake in memory of all the soft(er) landings it had provided for the late ship Yagami.  
  
Tenchi and Ryoko carried Ryeka upstairs to put her to bed. Ryeka was already asleep before the second step.   
  
Sasami and Yugi went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate, which neither had enjoyed since they were both last together in the Masaki residence before Yugi went to a self imposed hibernation in the cave.  
  
Ayeka and Washu went into Washu's laboratory. No reason was given.  
  
Kaji and Ryo-ohki sitting alone on the coach in the living room. Ryo-ohki was eyeing him sullenly and he felt as though she were still mad at him for having suspected Ayeka of duplicity earlier. He decided to break the ice with some conversation, while at the same time gathering more information for his report.  
  
"I'm glad you weren't hurt today, Lady Ryo-ohki," he began. "I'll admit, when we saw the massive explosion, Kiyone and I were sure everyone had been killed. It wasn't until the light faded and we could make out the shapes of Tokimi and Tsunami that we held out some hope. Still, you don't seem to exhibit any sign of permanent damage."  
  
Ryo-ohki shrugged. She fixed her eyes onto his without answering. It was only after he had proved after two minutes that he wouldn't look away that she dropped her gaze and answered.  
  
"Apparently, my different forms aren't made up of the same matter. Washu says that she designed me to store them in pocket dimensions. That way, I can take significant damage on one body, and transform to another with little or no damage. However, I can't regain the damaged form until after it has had some time to heal. Also, I still feel the fatigue of the effort no matter what body I use."  
  
Kaji nodded. "So, you'll be stuck here for a few days while you recover. How nice."  
  
Kaji smiled charmingly at her. Ryo-ohki looked back at him and smiled back, though secretively, and not in response to his charm.  
  
"Actually, I wasn't badly damaged enough to be grounded, but I will be staying for a few days, as long as Her Highness will allow."  
  
"Ah, good. Then maybe we can start over and get to know each other."  
  
Ryo-ohki thought about it and smiled. "Why not?"  
  
And she got up to go upstairs.  
  
Kaji watched her go. He considered briefly considered following her, but the memory of her claws against his throat was still too fresh in his mind. Besides, he needed to talk to Washu again anyway.  
  
Just as Kaji was about to knock on the closet that Washu used as a portal to her laboratory, the door opened and Ayeka stepped out.  
  
"Oh, excuse me, Detective," she said. "I hope I didn't hit you with the door."  
  
"Missed me by that much, Empress," Kaji held his fingers up.  
  
"Ha ha," Ayeka laughed. "I actually used to watch reruns of that show. Were you looking for me?"  
  
"Actually, I wanted to speak to Washu," Kaji bowed slightly in apology. "Is she in her laboratory?"  
  
"Yes, go right in," Ayeka stepped out of the way. "Good night, Detective."  
  
"Good night, Empress," Kaji bowed again.  
  
  
  
After traveling through a disorienting trans-dimensional tunnel, Kaji arrived in Washu's lab.  
  
"That you, Detective?" Washu called out.  
  
"Yes, Professor, it's me. May I speak to you for a moment?"  
  
"Only if you stop calling me 'Professor'," Washu spun around on her cushion and snapped her fingers. A second cushion appeared.  
  
Kaji took his seat. "So, what is your answer?"  
  
Washu laughed. "Actually, Detective, I must be tired because this time I haven't the foggiest idea what you want to know."  
  
Kaji raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I should feel proud I suppose. I had a question about Ryeka, actually."  
  
"A popular topic of conversation tonight. Ayeka was just here about the same subject."  
  
"Oh?" Kaji asked, surprised. "Was it anything I should know about for my report?"  
  
Washu shook her head. "More of a medical matter, actually. What is it that you want to know?"  
  
"I am interested in the source of Ryeka's great power. After all, she was able to create ... no I mean she was able to become a six bladed Lighthawk Wings. For someone who is only one sixteenth Juraian, that is quite a feat. With her mother being Ryoko, I would have expected a less Juraian slant to her abilities. What do you make of that?"  
  
Washu stared at him curiously. It was as if she were trying to see something deep inside of him. Finally she spoke.  
  
"Kaji, why are you really gathering all of this information?"  
  
Kaji shrugged. "I have no ulterior motives. During any investigation, the more information the Galaxy Police have, the more likely they are to solve a case. I have learned while doing research for other cases that sometimes the smallest bit of information can be crucial. I want to make sure any future detective who is reviewing my case will have all the information I can give them."  
  
Washu continued. "Because what I have to tell you is the kind of information that could cause a huge uproar in the Jurai Empire. I would only tell you to prevent you from stumbling around stirring up trouble trying to find the answer on your own."  
  
Kaji felt his heart quicken. He forced himself to calm down. "I understand."  
  
"You know that Ryoko was actually designed not to be able to bear children don't you?"  
  
"No, I didn't"  
  
Washu put her hands behind her head and looked up. "I ... I wanted to spare her the pain of having children and then perhaps losing them. I was jaded that way. So, I omitted ovaries and a womb when I created her. I had no idea that later in life she would actually marry someone like Tenchi and want to have a child. In fact, until she met Tenchi, I never actually thought of her as anything more than a complex machine. Does that sound callous to you?"  
  
"Not from someone who had their own child stolen from her and never wanted anyone else to experience that pain again." Kaji said softly.  
  
Washu nodded without looking down. "I used my own ovum to create Ryoko. But to do so, I had to remove my ovaries to put them in stasis so that I could extract eggs at will. They were lost when Kagato destroyed my lab and captured me.  
  
"So, when Ryoko came to me in tears one night, begging me to help her have a child, I told her there was nothing I could do. In what I think was the most humbling display of humility that I have ever seen, she went to the one person she could go to for help."  
  
Kaji stopped entering data.  
  
"Ayeka." Washu said. "Almost without a second thought, Ayeka came straight back here and ordered me to transplant her ovaries and womb into Ryoko's body. Other than my splicing some of Ryoko's genetic material into the eggs, Ryeka could easily be considered to be Ayeka's daughter as well as Ryoko's."  
  
"At dinner," Kaji said suddenly, "Ryoko scolded Ayeka for taking chances with 'our daughter'. She wasn't talking about her's and Tenchi's, she was talking about her's and Ayeka's!"  
  
Washu nodded.  
  
"So what's the big deal?" Kaji asked. "Why the secrecy. Why conceal such a noble and selfless act?"  
  
"You need to take more notes on Juraian politics and less on the soap opera involvements of its Empress," Washu rolled her eyes. "Think about it for a minute. What would happen when people found out that Ayeka would never have an heir to the throne? Or better yet that there existed a potential rival to the throne in Ryeka?"  
  
"Probably the same thing that happened when Sasami merged with Tsunami. Opposition elements would seek to use Ayeka's infertility to force her to abdicate, or worse they would seek to put the child Ryeka on the throne and control her."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Kaji turned off his data pad. "Actually, I can't foresee this information ever being useful to the Galaxy Police, and my report is too long already."  
  
"Thank you, Kaji." Washu pushed a button and the door to the laboratory appeared. "I appreciate your candor. Goodnight."  
  
"Not so fast, little Washu," Kaji made no attempt to get up. "That doesn't explain the source of Ryeka's power. Neither Ayeka, nor Tenchi, nor Ryoko have the power to transform directly into the Lighthawk Wings. In fact, such an event has never before been recorded, not even among the children to pure Juraians. Yet Ryeka did it. How is that possible? And don't give me any more soppy mumbo jumbo about being greater than the sum of our parts."  
  
Washu laughed.  
  
"Kiyone is correct. You do have a lot of potential. I was hoping to distract you with the soap opera details of the affair to make you forget the important part. The fact is that I couldn't adapt Ayeka's ovaries to Ryoko all by myself. Ryoko isn't human or Juraian, so there weren't enough support systems to keep the tissue healthy."  
  
Kaji leaned forward. "So?"  
  
Washu leaned forward and winked. "Ahhhh, I'm not going to tell you. But, I'll give you two hints. First, remember that at its most basic level, the Jurai power is nothing more than love. Second, with enough love anything is possible. Good night, Detective."  
  
"Ah, so, you needed help, someone with a lot of love... ack!" Kaji started.  
  
Washu pressed a button. The cushion Kaji was sitting on disappeared. He dropped into a dimensional tunnel that appeared in the floor directly beneath him.  
  
"Good night, Detective." 


	16. Epilogue

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Chapter16: Epilogue  
Even more soppiness in a much too soppy story.  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la ....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Chapter16  
  
Ryeka laughed and tried turning another cartwheel on the hillside. Ryo-ohki was with her and the two cartwheeled down the hillside until the both got out of control and collapsed in a heap laughing until tears came. On the hilltop, the rest of the adults were sitting on a picnic blanket enjoying sight while they ate a Sasami/Ryeka supreme picnic lunch.  
  
Sitting a little ways off to the side, Ryoko and Ayeka watched Ryeka playing.  
  
"She is getting so beautiful, just like her mother," Ayeka sighed.  
  
"Yeah, but do you mean you or me?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"I mean you, Ryoko. I swore that you would forever be her mother. I mean that."  
  
"It doesn't have to be that way, Ayeka," Ryoko said, seriously. "There is as much room here as there always was, you know."  
  
Ayeka shook her head. "Someday, when the empire is finally secure, and I can turn my attention to other things, maybe I'll retire and come back here."  
  
"Well, don't wait too long, your not getting any younger, you know." Ryoko continued to stare at Ayeka.  
  
"I know. As I told you last night after I spoke to Washu, I am not concerned in the least about aging. It is a burden I bear from using the Jurai power."  
  
"You had Ryeka use quite a bit of that power." Ryoko said, deep concern showing in her eyes. "Does that mean she is going to pay the price someday?"  
  
Ayeka picked a blade of grass and carefully began to split it along the veins.   
  
"Nobody knows, Ryoko. I asked both Sasami and Washu. There is no way to predict it. Ryeka may not have been immortal to begin with. After all Tenchi doesn't show any ill effects and he has used the power as strongly as I ever did. Also, Ryeka is different than all of us. Washu discovered that she might actually be a multidimensional being, more like Tsunami than us. Who is to say what such a being may be able to achieve?"  
  
Ryoko looked back down the hill at Ryeka who was panting as she was climbing back up. Ryo-ohki kept pulling at her ankles and making her fall down. The childish laughter rose up the hillside and all around the trees and the birds and all of the sounds in the world seemed to mimic it.  
  
"If I have my way, she'll just be a perfectly normal girl." Ryoko said, waving to Ryeka. "There is no need for constantly having to save the Universe as far as I'm concerned."  
  
Ayeka nodded. "Well, you might be fighting a losing battle there. It seems to be in her blood."  
  
  
  
The end. 


	17. Author's Notes

Steven Robinson (lostowl@globalnetisp.net)  
Regular  
Thicker than Blood - Author's Notes:  
General Apology for massacring the Tenchi storyline  
  
Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)  
  
Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la....   
  
This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Thicker than Blood  
Author's Notes  
  
Early on I made the risky decision of completely abandoning nearly all of commonly accepted ideas that exist about Tenchi and his pals. I was planning to write a story line twenty-five years in the future, so I had to adjust their personalities accordingly. Think how much you may have changed over the last twenty years. Would it be reasonable to expect that Tenchi and company wouldn't have?  
  
I also have included zero Japanese-isms like I know some of the other author's do. All I know about Japanese culture is what I see in Anime, and I would hate to pretend that I know enough to write about it. So, I simply wrote the story as I envisioned it, which is naturally from a 'me' centric perspective.  
  
Finally, let me say that this story is unnecessarily soppy. There are a lot of teary eyes, hugs, tender moments and such. In my third editing pass, I removed nearly half of the "tears in her eyes" bits, and even still there are a lot. Please forgive me. For some reason, I always cry during the heavy orchestral parts of the anime episodes, TV shows and movies I watch. I have been conditioned by years of having Disney push my emotional buttons to cry on cue. Writing this was a little bit of therapy. I even found myself starting to get teary eyed in one of the readings before I came to my senses and slapped myself around a little.  
  
The rest of these notes contain spoilers for the story, so don't read this unless you have read the story and really want to know why I did the horrible things I did to the characters. Afterward there is a little bit about me. If you feel the need to despise me, I felt it best that you have proper information to do so.  
  
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Kay, first I had to decide who Tenchi's wife would be. Although I am not an AHRLI, I did put Ryoko with Tenchi, but for a couple of reasons. First, Ayeka, despite caring about Tenchi, is the crown princess of Jurai. She is destined to be Empress, and therefore can never marry Tenchi. Tenchi can't be emperor of Jurai because he would suck at it. He has not a royal bone in his body. Plus, I have always felt that Tenchi was emotionally weak, like Ryoko. Ayeka, for all her whining is clearly the strongest of the young people in the household. I felt that Ryoko and Tenchi eventually would end up together because the have the same emotional needs. Besides, Ryoko looks more like his mother than Ayeka. Finally, I feel that Ayeka only has a crush on Tenchi in the series, that after spending an extended period of time with him alone, she would really start to get tired of him. Ryoko on the other hand is so simplistic; she probably wouldn't get tired of Tenchi during his lifetime. But, that is enough about that.  
  
Second, I had to decide where everyone would be twenty-five years later. It was too much to expect that they would all still be together. Ayeka was easiest; she would be the Empress. Tenchi and Ryoko naturally would be together at the Masaki residence. Then it got sticky. Because Tenchi needed to be his own man, and not rely anymore on Katsuhito's help, I wrote Grandfather out of the story (through natural causes). Because I felt from watching Tenchi in Tokyo that Washu and Katsuhito may have had a thing going, I left Washu at the Masaki house so she could be near her late lover.  
  
Twenty-five years would clearly be too long for Mihoshi and Kiyone to stay together. Kiyone was obviously a lifer when it came to the GP, so I made her the Chief Commissioner, since that was clearly where her personal ambition would take her. Mihoshi obviously could never survive in the GP without Kiyone, so I had to find somewhere to stash her. The solution presented itself in the form of the lonely Noboyuki. The best possible personality for him was Mihoshi and vice versa. So, Mazel Tov!  
  
Then I started get to the dregs of the case. Sasami would have grown up and merged with Tsunami by this time. Since I wanted the characters to have vastly different personalities than they had in the OVA, I need to concoct a story line to explain them. I imagine that merging two personalities into one young girl would be very traumatic. Throw in a plot to use her as a pawn to seize power and you have a seriously traumatized Sasami. After this, she would naturally want to withdraw into seclusion, which provides a convenient way to have her eventually save the day, Deus Ex Machina. The story of the merge is not included in this story, but if at least two people like this story, I may write it as a prequel.  
  
And, what about Ryo-ohki? At the end of the OVA, she was transformed into humanoid form and starting to learn to walk and talk. After twenty years, I would expect her to be pretty well developed as a humanoid. But, Sasami was gone, Tenchi was married, and Washu was mourning. Where is a cute young cabbit to go? To the lonely empress who feels similarly abandoned.  
  
It made perfect sense to me to make Ryo-ohki a confidant of Ayeka. Both would have needed someone to be with. I write a slightly romantic side of their relationship because I feel it would be a natural progression for the emotionally inexperienced Ryo-ohki to become attached to the person she trusts most. Ayeka, of course, is married to the Empire. But honestly, such a strong woman, so self-confidant... she could potentially be perfectly comfortable in a relationship with another female. I know a lot of people (okay, all of them) might disagree. Many might see Ryoko in a lesbian relationship due to her sexual overt ness. But I disagree. I think Ryoko only loves Tenchi and everything else is just a show. Ayeka on the other hand believes in love and tenderness, and may surprise herself to find it somewhere she might not expect it.  
  
Finally, I needed a catalyst to separate everyone in the past, so that the story could be written to bring them together after not having seen each other in a while. My timeline provides a war about five years after the OVA, where Jinnai invades Earth then the Galaxy and finally Jurai after finding a way back from El Hazard. During this war, Ayeka has a moment of truth when she is all alone and she is transformed from a girl to a woman. Also, during this war, conceivably, Ryoko and Tenchi go through battle together and bond firmly as soul mates. (Another prequel I am considering)  
  
About five years later, when Sasami would be firmly in her late teens or idealistic twenties, she would be most vulnerable to persuasion by forces determined to abuse her power. This is the time where I set the potentially disastrous merge with Tsunami, during which Sasami nearly kills her sister and destroys Jurai. Implied, but not mentioned, Yugi is brought out of her cocoon to try to reach Sasami and talk her down. After Sasami recovers, she and Yugi head out into the galaxy into seclusion so Sasami can get her head together.  
  
Washu and Yosho continue their quiet life on Earth while Tenchi and Ryoko try to have a family. However, spitefully due to her own bad experience with motherhood, Washu neglects to create Ryoko with the ability to have children. Ayeka selflessly donates tissue to help out and someone donates a large amount of Jurai power. Around this time Yosho dies of old age.  
  
Finally, I had to give some thought to the Jurai power itself. I decided to completely ruin the story by making the Jurai power the power of love. I am sorry, but I am just that kind of guy, I love love stories. I noticed in the shows and movies, that no one who really uses the Jurai power escapes unscathed. Yosho uses tremendous amounts of power to defeat Ryoko and begins to age much faster than other Juraians. Achika uses her tremendous power to defeat Cain, and she loses immortality and dies at an early age. The first emperor who defeated Cain died during the attempt.  
  
Based on this, I conceived that true Jurai power isn't granted without a price. I recalled from some Asimov stories and other sci-fi that immortals are afraid of death. So, since Juraians are near immortals, I decided that the Jurai power was granted to those who had decided to give their lives for others. Thus, the use of Jurai power, to different degrees, strips the user of immortality. That is why Ayeka ages in the story.  
  
SO, everyone in the story is older and wiser, if scarred. The one exception is Mihoshi and even she displays uncharacteristic intelligence. I felt it was necessary to leave Mihoshi the same to provide a little continuity with the original Tenchi storylines.  
  
So, I am sorry that this story doesn't match up with common Tenchi-isms, and I shamelessly take aspects of different versions of the series (I mix Yugi with OVA version) but I had a wonderful time writing this. I really, really tried to make it exciting and rewarding. I hope you like it.  
  
And, if you don't, I'm not listening anyways (la la la...)  
  
About the Author...  
  
My name is Steven Robinson; I am thirty years old and live in Burlington, VT. I got hooked on Anime again about four years ago when I discovered that Anime DVD's could be had for a good price on e-bay.  
  
I like writing, playing guitar and video editing. This is my first fan fiction and the longest piece of writing to date. So far the only writing I have ever had published was a series of Columns in four issues of "Tri-County Business Magazine", Hernando County, Florida, and a piece on shopping at the Juma Bazaar in "The Nation", Islamabad, Pakistan.  
  
Other than writing, I like spending my time driving an M-1 Abrams tank for the Vermont Army National Guard. I recommend it; it's very soothing.  
  
Peace.  
  
  
Peace and Love  
Steve Robinson 


End file.
